Second Chance
by Out0fMyHead
Summary: Hermione is thrust into the past, she must attempt to fit in, and try to change the very path of our favorite Professor. HG/SS, Adult Content, Time Travel, AU
1. Prologue

"Hermione, everyone else is gone, aren't you ready?" Harry questioned, a hand on his best friend's shoulder. She was knelt on the ground, long curly hair blowing softly behind her. The cool breeze stung at her eyes and she rubbed at them with the back of a gloved hand.

"Yeah, it's bloody cold out here too. It isn't like the git would have stuck around for us anyway, 'Mione!" Ron complained, he rubbed his hands together and blew on them a few times for dramatic effect. His nose was incredibly bright red, like Rudolph in the storybook her mum had read her when she was a child.

"Go ahead, I'll come to Grimmauld when I'm done." Hermione gave each a glance before she turned back to the little plaque in front of her. It was a beautifully new, shimmering silver that caught what little light the grey sky provided and glinted prettily. It didn't suit him- at all, she knew that, she would have thought someone else would have been concerned about the fact as well.

But then, Dumbledore was dead and he was the one who would have noticed something like that, Minerva had commissioned it, she knew the elder witch was just trying to do right by the man who'd lived a double life for so very long. A double life that had killed him far too prematurely.

She wondered sometimes if he'd even managed to know true happiness before he'd met his demise.

Hermione sighed when the two told her to 'be careful' and left, their figures faded into the distance and she turned back to the plaque.

 _Severus Snape  
1960-1998  
Order of Merlin First Class_

Hermione sighed, nothing else, just his name, his life in a couple of numbers, and his award for dying for them all.

It was sad, she'd always felt something for the professor she couldn't quite put her finger on. It had been hard to see him dying, even harder to leave him there on the floor of that shack and leave with Harry and Ron.

She hadn't been able to resist her urge to lean over and close his eyes before she'd scurried out after them.

She pulled a glove from her hand and touched the cold metal that marked his life, and his death.

"You deserved so much better, a life, a family. I know you weren't as bad as we made you out to be. I'm so sorry I couldn't help you!" The tears began to fall and as if a dam had been blown apart they continued to flow, dropping down her face and onto the cold, dying grass.

She doubled over, leaned over his plaque, and cried. She was crying for him, for Fred, for everyone they'd lost during the war, even those on the other side.

They all deserved so much better.

The metal felt warm beneath her cheek and her eyes flicked open, her gaze locked on the smooth surface, her tears still lingered across it and began to mingle with raindrops that had just begun to fall from the sky. As if the sky was crying with her, for all those who were lost.

The letters glowed and she gave a little gasp of shock. Her fingers, still exposed reached out and brushed across the glowing letters and she felt a tugging pull- much like apparition- before she lost consciousness.


	2. One :: When?

Hermione groaned upon waking and stared down at the grass below her cheek, her eyes wide as she grasped the ground. Her head spun when she attempted to roll over, failing miserably, and she let out a very unladylike grunt. Her mouth was dry, and when she moved it her jaw ached a little, her lips were sticky and she winced in disgust at the taste of grass, and dirt, and dry mouth. Her chest hurt where it pressed against the hard ground and she huffed a breath, the tightness in her ribs made her wince.

She felt like she'd just been dropped from the top of the Astronomy Tower and the sensation was not entirely pleasant.

"Where do you think she came from?" She heard a voice before something poked her in her side, making her hiss. She wrinkled her nose in irritation and her eyes flicked open again. Three boys, one extremely familiar leaned over her and she groaned again.

Rolling was uncomfortable but more doable this time and she made her way onto her back with a wince and stared up at the clear blue sky above her. A puffy little white cloud drifted by, as if taunting her and she was suddenly, internally of course, cursing Merlin. Her breaths were still strained and she was dizzy, so very dizzy, but she tried to focus, closing her eyes seemed the best way to do that.

"Do…you…speak…English?" One of them, a boy probably around her age prodded her side with a stick and she glared, hard. His wild black hair was floppy on his head and he gave her a wicked smile that made her stomach turn.

"I am not a pin-cushion, if you don't mind." She huffed and sat up, she could feel the grass sticking to her curly locks and the cheek that had been laying against the ground but tried not to think too much on it as she looked around.

It was unseasonably warm and there was no rain to be seen.

She stared at Hogwarts, exactly where she'd been and then looked at the three boys again.

Two with black hair and two others with brown hair. As she examined them she had to admit they all looked quite familiar.

"Oh no." Her eyes widened until they almost hurt. "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no."

She was panicking, hyperventilating as she tried to get a handle on her breathing, her chest was constricting painfully, not just being thrust through time, but the panic of the realization.

"What are you on about?" Sirius cocked an eyebrow at her and she almost screamed, almost. Instead she took deep breaths in and out and tried to control her ever-rising panic.

"Think about this rationally Hermione, obviously you are here for a reason. You must just be dreaming." She muttered to herself, off on a tangent inside her own mind and paying no attention to James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, or Sirius Black.

She felt faint as she glanced at them again.

"Oh Merlin." She lay back on the ground for lack of a better idea and one of the boys chortled a laugh.

"It's pretty clear that she's mad, cute, but mad." Sirius waggled his eyebrows and Hermione felt like he might actually be right.

She let out a dry laugh.

"I've lost my mind, that's it, that has to be it, because I certainly can't be here…What year is it?" She shot up again, her vision wobbling before she glanced at the boys, finally giving them her attention and they stepped back a bit, as if she may explode if they were too close.

"James, what are you lot up to now?" She heard an airy feminine voice and her eyes shot up to see Harry's mum stood right before her. Lily Potter, young, alive, wearing a Gryffindor scarf and a bright smile. Her red hair swayed around her and green eyes, identical to those of Harry were bright as she observed the group. Peter stuttered something at her but it was immediately lost when Hermione groaned and flopped back into the grass.

Maybe she could give herself a concussion, or wake up from this nightmare if she bashed her head off the ground enough times.

It could work!

"I have, I've lost my mind!" Hermione exclaimed and sat up again. She twisted her head and her neck cracked rather audibly, the pressure in her head immediately receded some.

Her thinking was beginning to clear and the only thing she could think was how incredibly screwed she actually was.

"Hi there!" Lily smiled and Hermione fought her urge to scowl at the young woman, "I'm Lily Evans, are you new here? I hope these boys didn't give you too much trouble." The redhead held out a hand and Hermione took it- though hesitantly and glanced around.

"What year is it?"

"Think she knocked her head or something?" Sirius muttered to James who burst out laughing, Remus shook his head.

"1977?" Lily gave her a confused look and Hermione groaned.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no…" Hermione buried her face in her hands. "I think I'm going to need to see Dumbledore." She grumbled, not sure who else to look for in the school. She didn't think Slughorn would be much help and McGonagall would just send her straight to the Headmaster, yep, Dumbledore it was.

He knew everything anyway, surely he would be able to tell her why she was here, how she'd gotten here, shed some light on her situation in some way.

She had to hope.

"First you should probably tell us why you're here, you know, since you apparently shouldn't be." James crossed his arms across his chest and stared at her through his glasses, so similar to Harry's. She cocked an eyebrow at him and wrinkled her nose.

"I hardly think you would still be alive if I were here to hurt you, don't you? Considering your idiot friend was poking me with a bloody stick?" She raised both eyebrows earning a scoff from Sirius, Remus shook his head at her but smiled over at James who looked a little red.

"Don't be a brat, why are you here?" James was insistent, Lily shook her head and ran her hand through her hair.

"Look, just point me would you?" She huffed a sigh, getting annoyed. She couldn't help but notice how much Harry was like his father already.

"I'll take you." Lily smiled and motioned for Hermione to follow her. A little nod was all the curly haired brunette could manage. Her mind was feeling quite a bit like mush as she pulled herself up from the ground and trailed behind the redheaded witch.

It was like being in an alternate universe, seeing these people. These people who were either dead or imprisoned not long after she was born.

Lily talked to her as she followed her up into the castle, their strides fairly even despite the slight height advantage the other witch had over her.

"I know the boys can be a little rough around the edges but they mean well." She smiled, brushing a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. Hermione smiled at her, she could see why everyone had been so enamored with the witch, she was beautiful, and very sweet.

Still, knowing what she knew about her was a tad disturbing, it made her want to dislike her, despite her pleasant personality.

"So, what's your name, if that's okay?"

"What-?" Hermione broke from her thoughts and gave a little nod. "Oh, yeah, no that's fine, I'm Hermione, sorry, I guess I'm a bit distracted."

Lily smiled at her and nodded her head.

"I understand, you have a knot like you bumped your head, what happened?" Hermione could see herself getting along with this woman, but she didn't want to, gods it was all so very complicated.

"I'm not really sure on that, it's why I need to see Dumbledore, I can't remember what happened. I'm sure he'll help me sort it out."

"Oh, he definitely will, best Headmaster this place has had in an age, or at least, that's what they say." Lily smiled, stopping in front of the familiar Gargoyle statue and Hermione gave her a smile, brushing her own wild curls out of her face.

"It was nice to meet you then, Lily." She gave the other girl a bright smile and turned back to the Gargoyle, wondering on what may be the man's password now. She wondered if he used Lemon Drops from the very beginning.

"You too, good luck getting up to see him, that statue is stubborn." Lily turned and trounced away, her hair bouncing behind her at the slight skip in her step as she went. Hermione shook her head, clearing her throat and staring hard at the Gargoyle.

"You aren't going to make this difficult, are you? I don't want any trouble, I just need to speak with the Headmaster."

"Password?" The gruff voice demanded and she wrinkled her nose, glaring at the stupid thing.

"Lemon drops?" She asked and it hissed at her.

"Is that a guess or your answer?" She furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes at the statue.

"It's my answer, git."

"Very well." The statue spun away and she lighted on the step that would soon be at the top. She didn't feel like climbing a staircase, that was for sure.

Soon she was face to face with the door to his office and she knocked on it, three firm knocks before stepping back and waiting for him to answer.

Her anxiety at her situation had her heart in her throat and her stomach somewhere near her feet as she waited, the minutes seeming like hours that ticked by.


	3. Two :: Is it hot?

Hermione watched Professor Dumbledore closely. For the most part he didn't look all too entirely different, his hair was a bit shorter, his wrinkles not quite so prominent but otherwise he looked the same as he had before he'd been killed.

She blinked at him a few times to clear the tears in her eyes, it wouldn't do well to act like a sap when he had no idea who she was or what she was doing there.

The cautious look he gave her told her he was wondering about her, where she'd come from and how she'd gotten onto school grounds.

She had read 'Hogwarts a History' more times than anyone she'd known, she knew the school from top to bottom, its past, present, and - quite literally from where she was standing, future.

Professor Dumbledore watched her closely over the top of his familiar half-moon spectacles and waited for her to speak, he could tell the girl was getting her thoughts in order and was undeniably curious about where she had come from.

Hermione picked at a piece of grass in her hair and wove her fingers together.

"Would you like a lemon drop dear?" He questioned and she let out a brief snort of a laugh, earning a puzzled look. Some things never changed, and apparently, that was one of them. His candy dish was always full, his pockets always brimming with his favorite sweets.

Gods she'd missed just that little bit of familiarity of the man, so like a grandfather despite his sometimes- read often- mad machinations.

Hermione cleared her throat and shook her head gently.

"No, sir, thank you." She managed when she felt like she finally had a handle on her emotions.

"Ah well then, go on, have you decided what to tell me Miss…?"

"Granger, Hermione Granger and yes sir, I have." She blinked a few times before she sucked a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. Or, perhaps she hadn't gotten quite the handle she thought on her rioting emotions.  
"Do you know very much about time travel sir?" She straightened her robes, still the black she'd been wearing to the memorial service, an odd color for her, she often preferred things of a lighter variety. She even more often opted to wear muggle clothing, if she was being honest. But then, she was muggle born.

His eyes sparkled as he looked over her. "I had wondered if that was in fact our situation, tell me, from when did you come?"

Hermione shook her head with a little sigh and caught a tear with the back of her hand. She wasn't even sure why she was crying, it was like there were too many reasons for her to pin-point just one.

"I ended up here from 1998, I'm not really sure how it all happened, one minute I was at the memorial and the next I was laying on the ground. All very strange…" She trailed, Dumbledore watched her with interest, gray eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Twenty years dear girl? That is quite a time to travel, did you by chance use a time turner?" He sounded doubtful despite asking the question. It was just the first logical conclusion, even she could see that.

"No, no, Professor McGonagall leant me one in my earlier years so that I could keep up with my studies but it was lost during the…" She broke off, concern creased her brow.  
"How much is it safe to share? I know I won't run into myself in this time, I've not even been born yet, are there rules about how much I can tell you?" She blinked thoughtfully and brushed a hand through her hair. A piece of grass came out and she flicked it away, she'd be picking grass out of the wild locks for months, she was certain.

"Curious indeed. So, you are a Hogwarts student in your time? I believe it is safe to share everything but the details of a death with the person who has passed. Otherwise I know of no rules regarding time travel, what exactly were you doing to when you moved through time?"

Hermione blinked and organized her thoughts quickly, her forehead wrinkled for a moment.

"I was, yes, we fought the final battle here, at Hogwarts, there were a lot of casualties. I was mourning the death of someone very important to me and then- well his plaque just began to glow and when I touched it I felt like I was side-along-apparating and then I was here." His brow furrowed.

"May I ask who the final battle was against?" He was watching her with intense interest, she chewed at her lip for a moment, regarding him. So many answers raced through her head, she wanted to spit it out and try to change the course of time, she wanted to beg everyone to do things differently.

Instead, she heaved a deep breath and settled on a course of action, even if she didn't like it. She just had a feeling it was what she was supposed to do.

And Hermione had never been one to ignore her gut, if watching Harry had taught her anything it was that gut feelings and logical thinking are necessary in equal amounts. There was no Harry here to have gut feelings for her so she would just have to follow her own.

"Are you sure you want to know?" She tipped her head, brown curls fell into her face and the man shook his head softly, his eyes twinkling again.

"Well, it seems to me that until we decide why you are here, and find a way to send you back, you should remain here. Perhaps as a student? Have you completed your NEWTs?" Hermione shook her head at this. Apparently the previous topic of conversation was dropped and they were moving on. She was certain he probably had that same feeling.

"I'd been planning to return and complete my education after the rebuilding efforts were completed, I would be more than happy to study here now. I have a bit of a passion for learning." The way her eyes sparkled when she spoke told Dumbledore all he needed to know. This was a very intelligent, very earnest girl. He didn't need to question her further.

"What house were you sorted into your first year, dear girl? Or have you a preference?" Hermione stopped, pensive for a moment before her eyes lit up and she smirked.

"I've been told I would do well as a Slytherin." The smirk didn't fade and Dumbledore gave her an odd look. She remembered well all the times Ron had looked at her, slack jawed, as if he'd never thought someone could come up with something like keeping Rita-beetle in a jar, or leading Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest to suffer the wrath of the Minotaurs who lived there.

"I quite thought you would make a lovely Gryffindor." He sounded distracted now, digging around on his cluttered desk for something before stopping and looking up at her again.

Hermione waved a hand, "The sorting hat thought so as well but, honestly, what is life without a little adventure? Not to mention the Marauders..." She cleared her throat. "I mean, I just know who I would end up with in Gryffindor and it would just be odd."

Dumbledore chuckled but gave a little nod and motioned for her to stand.

"Then I suppose we will make room for you in the Slytherin dorms. You will attend seventh year courses, Professor Slughorn will meet with you early tomorrow, he should owl a time, to discuss your schedule and set up a time for you and another student to leave for supplies. Are you familiar with the location of the common room and dorms?"

Hermione shook her head and Dumbledore nodded.

"I'll summon a student to help you then, please wait here a moment." And he slipped away behind a stack of shelves taller than should have been able to stand without toppling. Hermione almost laughed, he'd always been a bit of an eccentric, apparently.

Hermione looked around as she waited and jumped with a little gasp when the door to the Headmaster's office opened and a young man, around her age stepped in. She blinked at him, certain he looked familiar and wet her lips as he stared- bored- at the stack of shelves.

"Ah! Severus my boy! This is Hermione Granger, she'll be joining us for Seventh year. Be a lad and show her to the Slytherin common room and dorms." Hermione blinked, her mouth formed into an 'o' shape and her eyes went wide as she stared at the young man with long, black hair. _Of course_.

 _Professor Snape._

She shook her head.

No, not Professor Snape, not yet. Not dead. Alive.

She felt a bit dizzy and had to sit down. She swallowed, her mouth dreadfully dry again and clenched her fingers.

"Are you alright dear?" Dumbledore queried, an eyebrow raised while Severus stared at her with the ghost of a sneer on his face.

He was alive, and he was her age, and he was annoyed.

"Still a bit light headed I suppose." She tried to regain her balance but landed right back into her seat. "I'll be fine, just maybe, water? Some water?" She locked eyes with him, his black eyes boring into her the same as they always had.

She tried to catch her breath, her eyes roaming over him. He was draped in black robes, the uniform for students, with an annoyed look on his face. His black eyes were sharp, his nose crooked and long, the same he'd always had, but his face.

His face was short those sharp lines, the tired edge that had made him look that much more dangerous. His lips still turned in a scowl, and his black eyes still regarded her with distaste, but he looked much healthier, less sallow, only pale, and his hair- it wasn't clean, but it wasn't greasy with protective products to save it from potions and the general steam of being a potions master.

"Has anyone told you it is impolite to stare?" He bit out and she felt her pulse riot. His voice, gods it was his voice, the same one she'd heard only so long ago, speaking to Voldemort in the Shrieking Shack. The same one that had begged Harry to take his tears, his memories.

It was so velvet, so deep, pouring over her and making her heart beat a tattoo against her ribcage.

Was it hot?

She thought it may be hot in that office?

She fought the urge to fan herself and took a cup of water from Dumbledore with a shaking hand.

Her eyes never left his face and it grew more and more annoyed as she stared.

Her eyes watered.

Alive, young, safe, alive.

She felt like she was going to be sick. And when the dickens had it gotten so hot in there?


	4. Three :: Slytherin

The Slytherin common room was everything she would have expected it to be. Severus had escaped her almost as soon as they entered the room, moving across the common room to talk to two others who sat tucked into the corner of the room.

She huffed a breath, he'd completely ignored her the entire walk to the common room and, she'd decided not to try to talk with him yet.

She examined the room casually, excited at the sight of several bookcases filled around the common room. There was a slight green glow and when she looked up she saw the underneath of the black lake, beautiful with thick pieces of seaweed and underwater creatures drifting about. It took everything in her not to gasp a breath at the sight, it was gorgeous, much better than the high up views from Gryffindor tower.

A student caught her attention from behind, a little girl with a sort of flat face and dark red hair, she wasn't familiar and Hermione furrowed her brow at the girl when she cleared her throat.

"Professor Slughorn will meet with you at seven a.m. promptly in his office." She turned and walked away, her swagger reminding Hermione of the way Draco Malfoy carried himself in first year. She chuckled and shook her head. Glancing back across the room at Severus, who spoke quietly with his friends she heaved a breath and made her way to one of the bookcases.

Selecting a book without even reading the title she fell into one of the many oversized green chairs that surrounded the fireplace and pulled her legs up beneath her. Reading the book with only half-hearted interest.

She was exhausted, but every time she closed her eyes she regretted it.

 _SSHG_

"Severus here is one of my best students! I'm certain he will help you find your way around comfortably." Slughorn was rambling now, and Hermione was bored. She'd been sitting in front of him for the better part of an hour, reviewing her knowledge, the courses she'd completed, talking about her schedule and where she would be best suited for what.

Then, of course, he'd called Snape in and asked him to escort her to Diagon Alley, via the floo in Dumbledore's office. They would be leaving from there directly and heading to do her school shopping. She didn't like the idea of wandering around the streets of Diagon with him, it would bring back so many memories.

Surface so many emotions.

She could remember, vividly, her first trip to Diagon, with her parents, all of them slack jawed and amazed at the sights there when they first arrived. It had been an experience to last a lifetime, her first real taste of the magical world. The world they told her she belonged to now.

Then she hadn't felt as if she'd belonged, she felt like an outsider. It was one of the things that had spurred her into reading every textbook she could on the topic, not only did she have a drive to be the best, she wanted nothing more than to fit in with her witch and wizard peers.

She'd never fit in in her muggle primary schools, she'd thought she could really make something of herself in Hogwarts.

Then again, thinking about it, she supposed she had, she had after all helped Harry defeat the darkest wizard to date. That had to have counted for something, even if it had been a rocky path all the way.

"She seems like she should have been placed in Hufflepuff." She heard Snape huff and she glared at him, shooting him the darkest look she could muster and turning back to Slughorn who was also watching her with interest.

"Sorry, new school, didn't sleep well last night, what were you saying?"

"You two should be heading off now, the day is wasting and you are only excused from classes for this one instance, please return by five p.m. with all necessary items." He handed each a pass to leave the school and Snape stormed out ahead of her, she watched his back as she walked casually behind him. Not bothering to pester him.

Not yet. She was still trying to get her head on straight.

The floo network from Dumbledore's office took them directly into the Leaky Cauldron, which they stepped out of and into the busy streets of Diagon Alley. Hermione smiled, gazing around her at all of the witches and wizards in their outrageous robes, going about their days with little interest in what was going on around them.

"Do you have your list?" It was the first time he'd spoken to her since they'd stood in Slughorn's office and she turned her gaze to him, she'd been trying not to stare at him, an impossible task when he fixed her in that onyx gaze. His hair shifted around his face in a breeze and she shook herself from her stupor.

"Yes, just a second…" She trailed, dug through her bag, and produced the list Slughorn had given her. She tried to take a mental count of how much money she had on her, first she would need to go to Gringotts and exchange some of her muggle currency for wizarding money, she'd only just closed out her parents estate, withdrawing the money to change it into wizarding money and deposit it in Gringotts.

She'd sold their dentistry business after their deaths to a family friend and sold their little house. She'd paid for their funerals with some of the money and then taken the rest of it and hidden it in her bottomless bag. It seemed like the best place for it.

"I'll need to go to Gringotts, first and foremost." She glanced back up at him and he nodded, urging her forward and she made her way toward the bank, her companion shuffling behind her.

After she finished she bought only what she needed for school, including robes, and a books, and a few spare articles of clothing. She hated spending the funds her parents had left to her.

As if they were going to need it at some point she hardly touched their money and once it was deposited in a vault in Gringotts she planned to forget it existed until such a time as she felt like it wasn't an insult to them to spend their money on the world that killed them.

She shivered when they stepped into the bookstore, it was cooler there than the rest of the shops and the smell of books immediately overwhelmed her.

She smiled, running her finger along the spines of the books, aware of the stare on her back as she examined every single one until she'd selected all of the tomes she was in need of.

He didn't speak to her again until they'd stepped out of the bookstore and she'd tucked the last of her shrunken items away in her bag.

"Are you finished now, I have places to be, you know." He grunted when they stood in the middle of the street, Hermione had settled into a semblance of comfort with him and she was abruptly reminded that this was not her friend. He didn't like her even the slightest bit.

"Yes, sorry, sorry. I'd hate to waste your time, Snape." And with that she walked haughtily away, swinging her hips with her hair bobbing against her back for dramatic effect. It made her, if nothing else, feel the tiniest bit more confident.

And around him, she needed all the confidence she could get.

 _SSHG_

Severus lay in his bed, his eyes locked on the ceiling and his arms crossed behind his head. He was still wearing his school robes but he hardly cared to change as he contemplated the events of his day.

He despised being forced to miss classes, and even more that he'd nearly been late for his meeting with Lucius and the Dark Lord. He was working his way into the man's favor and it would do him no good to be late to meetings.

This was his chance at power, his opportunity to make more of himself than _Snivellus Snape_ as Sirius so eloquently called him. He thought about Granger, the witch he'd been forced to escort around and sneered into the ceiling.

There was something about those looks she gave him that made him feel unsettled. She was pretty enough- he supposed- okay, more than pretty. Not that he would ever admit it to her, because he wouldn't. There was something about the soft amber of her eyes, the small curve to her bow shaped lips, and that unruly hair she left free to do as it pleased.

She wasn't traditionally pretty, certainly not gorgeous like Lily- he felt a pang thinking her name- he'd begged her forgiveness and been denied, again. No, not gorgeous like Lily, but her straight white teeth and bright smile, sparkling eyes, confident demeanor.

They attracted him.

That was it, he was attracted to her. Of course, it made sense, he'd been attracted to many women in his time since puberty, he was after all a normal teenage boy with urges.

Urges that had lead him to sleeping with several of the females among the Dark Lord's ranks, not that he was proud of many of those conquests, most of them were, if not mad, at least a little bit frigid.

He adjusted his long legs, shifting so that they felt less cramped, and closed his eyes, she was still on his mind, lingering just at the edges of his thought process.

Hermione Granger, strange girl, certainly didn't seem to be fit for Slytherin, though he knew, better than most, there was always more to a book than met the eye, and he was willing to wager she was a thick tome of difficult riddles.


	5. Four :: Snivellus?

Hermione sat outside, it was a lukewarm fall afternoon and the breeze was just enough of a chill to keep the warm sun from making her feel stifled. She had a book open in her lap- advanced charms- and was relaxing when she heard the guffawing laughter of boys and turned to glance in the direction she heard it.

Normally when she heard that laughter it was one of her friends and she had to remind herself that her friends weren't there. They were in a different time, hopefully not worried sick about her.

She'd been in the past for four days and it was Saturday, she was officially enrolled in classes and happy to find most of her favorite Professors already worked there. She'd thought that settling into a routine would be more difficult, but it hadn't been. It had been surprisingly easy to settle herself into the school.

The work was familiar, the Professors were amicable, and she'd even managed to find a few Slytherin girls with whom she could carry on a decent conversation. She found they were quite a bit like Gryffindor girls, in that they gossiped about boys- all the time- but their gossip was quite a bit _steamier_ than Hermione was used to.

She homed in on what was happening not far from her, a familiar gaggle of boys surrounding another.

"What's wrong Snivellus, going to cry?" One of the boys taunted and she narrowed her eyes on the scene, she remembered that the Marauders had been cruel to Snape but she hadn't actually expected to bear witness to it. She'd even hoped that maybe they had grown out of it by this time. They were all seventh years after all.

Surely it wasn't too farfetched to believe they would have stopped acting like total pricks by now. Well, until she thought about Harry and Ron, and then it seemed very farfetched.

Before she was certain exactly what she was doing she'd stood and pulled her wand from her robes. With a confident stride, she marched up to the four boys who stood laughing around Snape who appeared to have just been leaning against a tree reading. He had his wand out and a terribly angry look on his face.

It brought to mind the phrase 'if looks could kill' she was certain the one he was casting the Marauders would have dropped them where they stood. No Harry, no war, just a pile of dead Marauders.

"Hey! Aren't you all just a bit too old to be acting like this?" Hermione propped one hand on her hip and waved her wand a bit with the other. Snape's eyes narrowed on her as the group of four turned to look at her and she tipped her head back. She was shorter than them, by far, and they outnumbered her by quite a bit as well. Still, it didn't matter, she wasn't going to be intimidated by a group of bullies.

And that's exactly what they were, bullies. She'd been bullied quite a bit in her school years, Malfoy, Lavender, the other Gryffindor girls who thought she was ugly, who insulted her because she managed a date with Viktor Krum, those who thought she was pathetic for fawning over Ron. Ron himself.

 _Chin high, just like dealing with Ron in first year._ She coached herself through her discomfort.

"Snivellus found himself a girlfriend then? Good, he'll leave mine alone." James taunted and Hermione cocked an eyebrow, her hip popped out in a cocky way and she blinked, once, twice. She could tell Peter found it quite disconcerting as he backed behind Sirius.

"I don't need you to defend me." Snape rounded on her, she'd forgotten how tall he was as she glanced up at him from the corner of her eye, he stood leaned over her, seething.

Honestly, she didn't think she'd ever seen someone look so completely lost to the rage. It was actually baffling to her, to see this man who had been so calm, so composed in her years knowing him this vulnerable to his emotions.

"Do you hear me? I don't need your help, Granger." He hissed.

His voice was like rich velvet that wrapped around her and she wondered if he'd ever actually gone through the awkward voice phase most boys went through. She didn't really think he had, it was like he'd just been born tall, and dark, and severely attractive.

Hermione did her best to pay him no mind as she stared down the group of boys.

A wicked little smirk crossed her face and she crossed her arms across her chest.

Yes, perhaps she did have a bit of Slytherin in her after all.

"I know." They watched her with odd looks on their faces and she cocked an eyebrow. Her confident stance back full force. Snape glared at her but she just ignored him, she could deal with his fury later.

She'd been dealing with an adult Snape's fury for seven years after all.

And what was the teen compared to the tortured man?

Her eyes softened when they flicked to him. She hated to think of everything he would have to go through in his life.

Gods, it was cruel torture knowing it and not being able to say anything.

"I know about you, all of you." Sirius laughed, but it was forced and uncomfortable.

"Know what? There's nothing to know." Snape was giving her an odd look now as well, his eyebrows furrowed. She could feel the dark orbs on the side of her face, as if he was trying to read her mind, invade her thoughts and see exactly what was going on inside her head. Lucky for him, and everyone else in this so much more peaceful time no one would be seeing inside her head anytime soon.

Dangerous place, her mind was.

"I'm just letting you in on the fact that I know, and that if I were you, I'd be careful who I picked on." She spun on her heel and stormed off, her hair bounced behind her and she could feel Snape hot on her heels.

He caught her by the arm and made to tug her around but dropped her arm like it was on fire. He stared from her, to his hand, and back before he finally regained his composure enough, chest heaving, to fix his eyes on her face.

"What?" He was out of breath and trying to catch himself.  
"Where are you from? How do you know about them? What the hell is going on?" He ground out and Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him.

It would be easier if she told him, right? The only thing she couldn't tell him about was his own death after all and that shouldn't be such a feat.

"If you really want to know," she could see his eyes burn with the curiosity. She liked that this Snape was less guarded, less able to hide his emotions. She hated that he would ever have to learn how to do so. "Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at midnight. If you're a minute late I won't be there." She turned to leave.

He grabbed her arm again, this time by the sleeve.

"Granger," she cocked an eyebrow again in question, "don't ever do that again."

Hermione smirked.

"You'll find, Snape, that I do what I please." And she turned and scurried up into the castle and out of the young man's sight.

SSHG

Severus massaged his forehead when she was gone and glanced back at James and his goons.

So, she hadn't really stood up for him, she hadn't really said anything about him at all. She'd just asserted herself, yes, that was it- asserted herself- he was only half convinced as he made his own way into the castle and toward the Slytherin common room.

He had to meet with Lucius and his new wife Narcissa later. He'd just have to make sure he made it back in time to meet with Granger as well. Granger- infuriating girl.

How did she know about them? What did she think she would achieve by threatening them, and why had he never thought to threaten to expose their secret? Because he wanted to hex them into oblivion, that was a pretty good reason, he thought.

He wanted to make them pay, make them feel the pain and ridicule he'd felt ever since they'd fixed him in their sights.

He'd never even done anything to deserve their ire. Being Lily's friend certainly shouldn't have been reason enough, and he'd ruined that thanks to them, why couldn't they just leave him alone.

What if it got back to her they were saying Granger was his girlfriend? Surely she wouldn't believe them! He loved her, and only her, forever.

He would never love another like he loved Lily, not even bushy haired brunettes who shot electric zings through his entire body when he touched them.

Maybe she would be jealous if she thought Severus was with another girl though, maybe she would talk to him again? That would be worth it, wouldn't it, to let them spread the rumor around?

He collapsed onto his bed, giving a longing look at the wall, imagining Lily standing there.

She wouldn't even forgive him, of course she wouldn't be jealous if he were with someone else. He curled his fingers in his hair, tugging at the lank locks of black and groaning to himself.

It was torment, loving someone so much, wanting them so badly and being denied their company, being denied something he'd thought he would always had.  
He'd loved her so much, so loyally, why couldn't she just forgive him? He would give anything just to be her friend again.

His thoughts shifted to Granger.

He still thought she was pretty, of course he did, his attraction to her hadn't changed, even with her stupid display out there.

She'd put herself in their sights as well, he had no doubt they would do something mean to her, he could only hope she could back up that cocky attitude with dueling skills to match.

He cast a quick tempus and sighed at the time. He needed to leave and meet with Lucius, at least the dungeons gave him easy access to the tunnels that ran under the school and into the outside world. He'd hate to be caught out leaving to meet with the Dark Lord.

Soon, soon he would be one of his most trusted, soon he wouldn't overlook him anymore, he would be valuable, he would be powerful, and he wouldn't be worried about Lily Evans, or James Potter any more.


	6. Five :: Q&A

"Where are you off to?" Hermione questioned Snape as he tried to slip from the common room, he stopped, his body rigid for a moment before he turned to face her with a sneer.

"I hardly think that is any of your business." He all but snarled and Hermione held up her hands in surrender, he caught sight of the book in her lap and saw it was an advanced potions manual- what really caught his eye though was the red scribbling that marred its pages.

"What are you doing to that book?" He was still irritable, ready to annihilate the pushy, nosy, obnoxious, bushy haired witch over the precious literature in her hands.

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a wad, Snape, I've found some very simple errors and I'm correcting them to show to Slughorn tomorrow." She looked up from her marking and fixed him in a firm deep brown gaze. It made his nerves flutter and he wanted it to stop. Right then.

"You shouldn't talk to me like that. You don't want to piss me off." He sneered and she blinked up at him, eyes innocent.

She was trying so very hard to consider him a peer, to speak to him as she would any Slytherin who had a bad attitude. On the inside she was a jumble of nerves, she'd been so very mesmerized by his adult self and her mind couldn't reconcile the two as different people.

Were they really so different?  
From what she'd seen they weren't.

"Is that a threat?" She tipped her head to the side, a little smile on her lips. The smile made him uneasy and he piled aggression on top of that unease until he felt better.

He _hated_ this girl.

"And if it is?"

She stood, and, despite her short stature she squared her shoulders at him. She reminded him of one of those little dogs his muggle grandmother had been so fond of, always biting at his ankles.

 _Annoying him._

"I'm not afraid of you Severus Snape. I will _never_ be afraid of you. I. Know. What. Is. In. Here." She prodded his chest with each word to enunciate her point before she turned and strode away. He glared at her but watched her go, women certainly were confusing.

He cast a tempus charm and groaned, _great, late to meet with Lucius and Narcissa._

Hermione leaned against the wall as soon as she was out of sight and took deep, soothing breaths, she was having a hard time maintaining her cool around the much younger, much easier to read Severus Snape.

So much so that she almost wanted the blank mask he wore back.

Not really though, she wanted to see what he was thinking so badly, had since her last year at Hogwarts, and now she had her chance.

And she was squandering it bickering with him.

Wasn't it just like her to be on his last nerve?  
Perhaps that was why things had never gone further than a few pleasant conversations between them?

Maybe she wasn't made right to be with him, even though she felt like he was the missing piece of her, maybe she _wasn't_ the missing piece of _him_.

She smacked her head back against the wall a bit harder than necessary and made her way to her dorm to change into something more comfortable and study.

She needed to stop over thinking things, the best way to do that was to bury herself in textbooks and theories.

She still had four hours until she was supposed to meet him in the Astronomy Tower.

She wondered if Minerva would let her use her NEWT scores from this time in her own? She snorted a laugh as she pulled on a comfortable top that draped nearly to her knees and kicked off her jeans.

Minerva wouldn't even believe it, she'd just consider it a stress side effect of the war.

She stared at the bed she'd yet to sleep in. She was exhausted, had found herself taking micro-naps, but still she couldn't sleep.

Not without the screams, the gurgle of blood, the empty eyes.

She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes and willed the images away.

 _Deep breaths Hermione, deep breaths. It will be over soon. You're not there anymore._ She talked herself down and suddenly longed for Harry to be there to say the words to her, for her. Or even Ron to give her a goofy smile and pat her on the back in his awkward way. The three had found comfort in one another during the most horrendous of their nightmares.

Sometimes the ones who hadn't died were dead in her mind.

Luna had been the worst, laying with a look of horror on her lovely face and her blonde hair splayed around her.

She shuddered.

It wasn't worth thinking about.

Luna was fine, Luna was fine and she was working for the Quibbler and she was happy, and she was safe.

Hermione's pulse slowed and she glanced at the little watch on her wrist. She'd wasted an hour in her panic and rolled her eyes with annoyance at herself before she climbed onto her bed and immersed herself in a book.

SSHG

Hermione glanced at the time again and sighed to herself. She had been sitting in the tower for only fifteen minutes and her fingers had already begun to go numb. There was something to be said for Hogwarts' weather- it was erratic- during the day it had been mild, if not on the warm side. And now, at near midnight she stood in the Astronomy tower freezing her tits off.

Literally, she thought they may fall off.

She rubbed her arms to try and fuel some warmth and stared down at the grounds, her eyes drifted over the dark plains of the ground and she sighed to herself.

From where she stood she could almost pretend she was where she was supposed to be. That she could turn around and see Harry leaning against the wall, or pacing and talking about what Malfoy may be up to.

She smiled, however faintly at the thought and flicked a large mass of curls from her shoulder. She knew she shouldn't reminisce but what was she to do while she waited? It wasn't as if she had much else to do but think about her friends.

Ron spluttering about Fleur was a happy thought that made her chuckle to herself.

"I do not see what is so funny about the grounds." A voice came, far too close for comfort and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She screeched and turned on her heel as fast as possible, her wand out and a hex on her tongue.

The wand dropped when she realized who it had been.

"You should never sneak up on a witch who has been through what I have." She scolded as she put her wand away and leaned against the wall.

He was far too close to her for comfort, the scent of fresh cut grass mixed with warm herbs and parchment wafted from him and her knees almost shook. Almost.

"And what exactly have you been through?" He cocked that annoying eyebrow again and she was tempted to reach up and smooth it down, as she'd been so tempted to do in her school days.

She laughed and ran her fingers through her hair, it wasn't a casual laugh like she'd wanted, it was nervous and strained. It almost hurt her throat.

"So much more than you can imagine, where would you like me to begin?" He watched her closely, his eyes burned into hers and she wrapped her arms around herself to try and stave off the cold.

"Silly witch, should have worn a cloak." He pushed his from his shoulders and wrapped it around her before she could protest. He wasn't sure what he was doing but he tried to tell himself it was because he'd promised his mum he'd be a gentleman no matter what.

That had to be it.

"Um, thank you." He told himself he was imagining that blush on her cheeks and pushed long black hair back from his face.

"Start with where you came here from."

"You won't believe me."

"Try me."

"It isn't a where that I'm from but a when." Hermione chewed her bottom lip as he stared at her with those piercing black eyes, the moon glinted off them and made them appear almost liquid.

She blinked away the image of running back to close his dead eyes and shuddered.

"And _when_ is that Granger?" He was getting impatient with her and she knew it, still she didn't want to talk about it, wanted to pretend it had never happened.

She had to face it, always forced to face something wasn't she?

"1998 to be exact, I was mourning the loss of someone very important to me when there was a light and then I was here." He stared at her with hard eyes, scrutinizing her facial expression.

Yes, he must have always been good at reading people to have ended up a spy. It made sense.

"Boyfriend? Friend? Sibling?" He looked genuinely intrigued now and she pinched her eyes shut.

"He was an acquaintance, a friend from a distance, he was too intense for anyone to get too close." She muttered and he cocked an eyebrow.

"Certainly sounds interesting."

"You have no idea." Hermione groaned and shook her head.  
"Okay, but, well, now I'm here. My best friend is actually Harry-" She blinked, how much of this should she tell him? "Potter, he's um, James' son, that's how I know about him and Lupin."

His face went blank. "You cannot be serious."

"I most certainly am." She crossed her arms across her chest and he gave her a hard look.

"If you're really from the future then do you know," he looked pained for a moment, "Lily?"

Hermione wanted to groan, scream, cry. They'd made it so long without talking about her. Her. Her.

She shouldn't hate a dead woman right? But couldn't she just be a little jealous in a time when that woman was still alive.

"She is Harry's mum." She looked away, her eyes on the floor. It was like she could feel his heart breaking, she wondered if she shouldn't have told him.

He would have found out eventually anyway though, right? Right?

Her stomach flipped when he stepped further into her personal space, his dark eyes narrowed on her.

"She doesn't, not with that, that, bastard." He growled, Hermione's eyes flicked up to meet his and he wasn't sure why but there was pain there, quite a lot of pain. He didn't question it, he was too upset, he would mull it over later.

"From what I know they were very in love." His hand hit the wall beside her head, palm flat so he didn't break his knuckles and she hissed a breath.

The Snape she knew, Professor Snape, had never laid a physical hand on anyone she'd ever seen. This Snape, he was different, younger, less restrained.

He regretted instantly scaring her, even if he hated her he never wanted to be that man. _Never wanted to be his father._

Hermione put on her best brave face, the one she'd made when she'd been faced with Bellatrix after the devil of a witch had tortured her, her fingers massaged the scar on her arm, well hidden beneath charms.

"I don't think I need to know anymore tonight. Meet me here again tomorrow, same time." And with that he swept away, she tried to call him back, tell him she still had his cloak but her voice hadn't quite come back yet. She sighed and inhaled the scent of her amortentia, she knew now as well as she'd known then.

And she also knew that sometimes the heart wanted what it could never have.


	7. Six :: A Full and Complete Explanation…

Hermione groaned when Sirius Black pulled himself up off of the wall and blocked her path to the potions classroom.

Perhaps she had been hasty in her decisions and should have made friends with the group of boys? It would have been easier than having them against her. Especially considering she'd foregone being friendly with them in favor of Snape.

Snape who avoided her like she carried the plague.

Snape who looked at her like he hated her very existence.

"I've never hit a girl Granger, but if you ever tell anyone about us I may be tempted to change my opinions." He spoke when she came close enough and she put on her best sneer, compliments of Severus Snape, and would have looked down her nose at him, if she wasn't so damned short.

She settled for giving him the haughtiest look she could muster, summoning the memory of every look every Slytherin she'd ever met had given her. It would have to do.

A curse was all her height could be described as. Harry and Ron had towered over her at six feet tall. She crossed her arms and her robes shifted around her wrists.

"Where'd you get that watch?" He snatched her hand and stared hard at the watch on her wrist.

"Shit." She hissed under her breath and ripped her hand away from him, making sure to hide the watch in her robe sleeve.  
"It was a gift, from a friend." He gave her a suspicious look but turned to walk away from her.

She knew why it looked familiar to him, it was after all one of the things Harry had inherited when the man died, he'd given it to her when her parents had been killed. Saying they were family and she should never forget it.

"I'm serious, Granger, I will retaliate, and you will never see it coming." He snapped, his face contorted in rage. He was attractive, when he wasn't ready to fight her to the death.

"Careful Black, you may end up in Azkaban." He scoffed and walked away from her.

Why he'd been described as charming in his school days she had no clue. She'd also found James quite off-putting, the only one she truly regretted threatening was Lupin.

His body on the floor, his hand outstretched to that of his wife Tonks flickered behind her eyes and she grasped her head, her back hit the wall.

"No, no, not right now, I already can't sleep, I need the peace when I'm awake." She muttered to herself and tried to stand up off of the wall. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.

Dead black eyes.

One of her favorite Weasleys dead, sprawled pale across the floor.

She sank to her knees and pulled herself into the smallest ball possible. The images flickering faster through her mind than she could handle.

The screams were whiting out all other noise, she couldn't focus on anything but the screams. Voldemort's laughter broke through and she could feel herself shaking.

Her eyes flicked open and Snape was knelt in front of her, giving her a hard look.

"Did Black do something to you?" He growled, she shook her head, her eyes watered.

"What happened then?" She could almost fool herself into thinking he was genuinely concerned and not just looking to fuel his rivalry with the Gryffindor.

"Nothing, you can ask about it later if you really want to know." She stood and shrugged away from him as fast as possible, her feet carrying her to her potions class as quickly as they could.

SSHG

Hermione leaned against the wall of the Astronomy Tower, she was sitting this time with Snape's cloak over her like a blanket as she drifted in and out of sleep. Every time a dream began her eyes flicked open and her head bobbed forward.

She couldn't say she was particularly fond of the sensation but she tolerated it as a fact of life. Life without Ron and Harry in the room with her was bleak, and exhausting, she hadn't quite realized how much she relied on the two boys to keep her sane.

Her dormmate, her name started with an 'a' Hermione thought- wasn't even there most nights, sleeping in another girl's room and sticking close to her Ravenclaw boyfriend. Hermione didn't mind it, one less person to occupy her mind.

She'd been trying to figure out how to get back to her own time, had even gained access to the restricted section, her efforts had been fruitless of course.

No one could ever be quoted as having time traveled without a time turner or unintentionally.

Her head lolled back and forward again and her eyes flicked closed.

"No!" She jumped with a start, dead black eyes burned into her mind's eye.

"I understand that you do not like me Granger but honestly, you do not have to yell." He'd stepped into the room and Hermione looked away, exhaustion evident in even her jerky motions.

"I brought your cloak back. What do you want to know?" She handed the fabric back to him but he simply waved a hand and watched her with keen black eyes.

Even as a youth he saw everything, it really baffled her.

"I noticed you do not have one, and you didn't buy one, keep it, I have others." And the topic was dropped.  
"I want to know why you were curled up in a ball in the hall and why you are so obviously unable to sleep."

"Straight to the point, I always liked that about you." She grumbled sarcastically and his gaze fixed on her, _oops_.

"You know me?" He watched her face, hard. She gulped and blinked away her exhaustion, it was obvious she needed to stay on her toes in his presence, she should have realized to begin with.

"Every single student who attends Hogwarts from 1981 on knows you. You take the position as Potions Master and Professor." She smiled fondly and he watched that look on her face, it was an odd look, one he'd not seen on any woman before in relation to him.

"I end up stuck in this place?" He looked aggrieved and she sighed to herself.

"It is your choice to work here, from what I understand your life is not the greatest after Lily and James marry." His face morphed with pain again before he flushed it away.

"I don't want to talk about that." He growled out, his voice, and his eyes dangerous.

She looked down at her hands. "As for why I cannot sleep, why you found me in the hall the way you did. My entire Hogwarts career, from first year to sixth was dominated by the war between good and evil. It started slow, by fourth year people were starting to die." She stared at her fingernails, suddenly very interested in their jagged edges.  
"My friends and I fought the final battle what was only a full two months ago for me." He was still watching her closely, wondering how it could possibly have been so terrible. He also had a niggling feeling that he has something to do with it all.

His interest in dark magic had always been a pull.

"A…" her voice cracked, she cleared her throat and tried again. "A lot of people died, a lot of good people, witches and wizards I loved with all my heart. I- umm, well I can see them when I close my eyes, their faces, death is interesting, the way it clings to you."

"Did you kill anyone?"

"I bound as many as I could, some _had_ to die. They gave us no choice." She blinked back the tears and he watched her closely. He couldn't imagine seeing war for his entire young life, being one of the main players in such a thing _would_ be particularly difficult.

He found he had a new respect for the girl from the future.

Not that he particularly liked her, she still made him feel… _off_.

"And Harry, your friend, does he fight as well?" He tried not to think of it as Lily's son, instead considering him Granger's friend.

"He's the boy who lived, the most important wizard of our time." She stared at her fingers again.  
"He's also the sweetest, most compassionate man I've ever met. He's the only reason I survived it all, the only thing that kept the entire wizarding world going while everything was falling apart. He's the closest thing to family I have left." She sniffed and he watched with a placid look on his face.  
"I miss him, and Ron, and Ginny." She broke down in tears, the exhaustion finally having its wicked way with her.

When she finally calmed and looked back up at him she pulled herself up the wall and stepped up to him. He watched her through narrowed eyes and wondered what she was doing.

"I'm sorry, I get emotional when I haven't slept. I hope we won't have to do this again?" She tilted her head, the red rings around her eyes were already beginning to recede.

It was wonder, honestly, she'd collected herself so quickly, she couldn't be anything but a war heroine.

"I have more questions."

"Then you will need to find a way to help me sleep without waking screaming before you can have the answers." She stated, so matter-of-factly it was surprising to him.

"I could brew you dreamless sleep potions."

"You tried that after I was tortured, 'they are ineffective against the severe traumas I have faced'. Those are _your_ words, not mine."

"It does sound like something I would say." He smirked and Hermione allowed herself a moment to admire him.

Gods, it didn't matter what age he was, he would always make her heart thud in her chest wouldn't he?

"Is it possible, to help you sleep?" He questioned thoughtfully, she could tell he was working on something in his head. She'd almost forgotten he'd been a prodigy in his youth, much like Dumbledore and McGonagall before him and herself after him.

It seemed Hogwarts just acquired an incredibly intelligent and talented student every so many years.

"I don't know, I shared a room with my friends but they are not here and their parents are not adequate replacements." She screwed up her face in distaste.  
"I honestly don't know how Harry came from James unless he changes rather dramatically over the next several years."

"She will change him." He muttered softly and Hermione blinked.

Always that woman.

 _Always_.

"Right." She couldn't keep the bitter edge out of her voice.


	8. Seven :: Closer

Hermione glared at Snape, he was glaring at her first, in her defense.

One of his friends turned to look at her, though she couldn't remember his name she recognized his eyes. A deep, cruel dark brown. She was certain he'd been there when Bellatrix had tortured her. She wet her lips and turned, facing the fire before glancing at them once more.

They were still staring, making her incredibly uncomfortable.

"Do you have a problem?" She finally bit out, glaring at the group of three boys who were all staring at her by now.

"Yeah, Granger, you." She heaved a breath and sat back in her seat further, the book on her lap forgotten.

"And why, pray tell, do you have a problem with me?" She cocked an eyebrow, not bothering to give them her full attention anymore.

"Well, you don't got a familiar name, I don't think you belong here, I think you're a _mudblood_." She tensed at the familiar slur and ducked her head, her hair falling into her face.

"Because I couldn't possibly be a half-blood?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. She could see Snape clenching and unclenching his fists.

She wondered, not for the first time, if he felt the same as his friends did.

"Because you're too ugly to have pureblood in ya."

"Shut up, Mulciber." Snape snapped, glancing at her and she turned her head away completely.

"What, jus' bein' honest." The idiot shrugged and Hermione stood, her book clutched in shaking hands as she made her way into the narrow tunnel that lead to the girl's dorms. She slid to the floor, her knees in her chest and gasped a breath.

"What were you thinking, Hermione? You don't belong here!" She was talking to herself, something she did when she was overstressed. She tugged at her hair, the book forgotten beside her. She buried her face in her knees, shaking and trying not to make too much noise.

What could she do, though?

She should have opted for Ravenclaw, she didn't know anyone there.

She could have just drifted by until she found her way back to her time. She shook her head, there'd been something telling her this was where she belonged.

Harry had taught her never to ignore her gut feelings. She'd listened to her gut and look where it had gotten her. She was being taunted for being what she was, she rubbed at the mark on her arm.

She didn't care about being called a mudblood, it didn't bother her anymore, she was used to it.

Malfoy and his lot had had a good run of calling her terrible names for most of her school career. It was the exhaustion, it had to be.

Not being able to sleep, being trapped around familiar people who were still strangers. Knowing what the future held and not being able to do anything about it.

"Are you okay?" A quiet voice asked and her back immediately tensed, her eyes shooting up to stare into a pair of deep black.

"What do you care?" She bit, the bitterness seeping into her voice again, he sneered and stood upright, giving her a harsh glare.

"I don't."

"Good, you shouldn't." She furrowed her brow, turned her face away. She expected him to walk away, she anticipated footsteps.

They never came.

"Look, let me help you to your dorm, or something. You can't stay in the hall all night." He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable when she glanced back to him, she stared at his outstretched hand. Long, slender fingers already stained by potions held out there for her.

She took a deep breath, tucking her hand into his and letting him pull her up.

He knelt to grab her book and held it in one hand while he took her as far as he was able, his presence beside her dark and heavy. The doors to the dorms wouldn't open for male company and she turned to give him a long look as he handed her the book.

"Mulciber and Avery are idiots, Granger, they don't know when to keep their mouths shut. A wonder they haven't had their arses kicked yet." He smirked and she couldn't help the little smile that flitted across her face at his words.

"Thanks, Snape."

"Just stay out of their way, okay?" He nodded, turning to walk away after she gave him a soft nod.

She slipped into her dorm once he was out of sight and fell onto her bed, the book forgotten beside her.

He could be such an utter prick, and then turn around and be so sweet.

It was giving her whiplash. It was giving her hope.

And she wasn't so sure hope was something she should have in this time.

SSHG

Hermione glanced around the great hall. It was Halloween, they were celebrating with a feast, as they always did. Several students were dressed up in costumes, preparing for parties that would take place in their common rooms after the feast.

All Hallows had never really had much of a draw to her, especially with the tradition of dressing up. She thought it was silly, juvenile, and something that those around her used as an excuse to dress up in provocative clothing.

She sighed into her drink and glanced down the Slytherin table. The girls in Slytherin weren't much different than they were in her own time. They wore some of the most provocative outfits, leaving only enough to the imagination to not be suspended on the spot for their outfits.

"Will you be at the party?" A voice from beside her, she turned to see a boy with short blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. She shrugged, glancing around again before answering.

"I suppose I will be for a bit, though I doubt I will participate."

"Come now, you have to participate, the best games are played today." He smirked and she watched as Nearly Headless Nick screeched across the hall, yelling something at Peeves who was floating ahead of him, laughing manically.

Some things really, really never changed.

"I'm not really interested, um-?" She gave him a questioning look, she had no clue who this was.

"Chambers, Ralph Chambers." He answered and she gave a nod. Ralph. Uck.

What a name.

"Well, Chambers, I'm not really interested, I'm afraid you should probably find someone else to pester."

"Bitch." He muttered under his breath as he turned away from her and she heaved a breath, standing to leave the great hall.

She needed to go back to the common room, not that it would do her any good, as they would all soon be there.

Still, she felt stifled and she needed to get away.

When she finally made it to the Slytherin common room she collapsed easily into a chair and exhaled a deep breath, glad for the silence.

"I see I'm not the only one who can only stand the endless chatter for so long." Her eyes shot to the owner of the familiar voice and she nodded at him. He sat on a sofa nearby, staring at a book but speaking to her.

"It's exhausting." She agreed before they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Will you be partaking in the festivities later?" She liked the way he asked the question, it made her smile.

"I'd thought to avoid them, you?"

"I adore a game of truth or dare." He looked up at her then, a wicked smirk on his drawn face and she felt her eyes widen.

"I imagine you come up with some very cruel dares." She wet her lips, his chuckle was deep, dark.

"You imagine correctly. You should stay, play a bit." She felt her lips pull down into a frown.

"I don't think I know how to play, I watched my friends once, but they all cheated."

"You can't lie, we place a detection spell on the area, the closest to Veritaserum we can get away with legally. Afterwards a wand is placed in the center of the group and whoever it is pointing towards is the one who had to do the dare or answer the question. If they lie they are hit with a mild stunning spell. It's all quite interesting." He smirked, she gulped.

"That doesn't sound wise."

"I didn't claim it would be pleasant, only that it would be enjoyable. Or are you too much of a coward, girl from the future?" He cocked an eyebrow at her and she wrinkled her nose, her eyes narrowed on his skinny figure.

"I suppose I have no choice then, you're a bastard, Snape."

"Ah, you come closer and closer to knowing me well, then."

"Prick." She scoffed, glaring at him.


	9. Eight :: Truth, or Dare?

"Alright, everything is set, all players must stay within the circle for the duration of the game or they are immediately disqualified." The teen Hermione recognized to be a boy named Collins commented, his hands clapped together. There were quite a few of them, all Sixth and Seventh years, sitting in a circle in one of the boy's dorm rooms with a wand settled in the middle of them. Hermione recognized the wand well.

It was Snape's. The same wand she'd watched him buried with.

Her stomach clenched at the memory and she shook it away.

"Does everyone know the rules?" The girl- Hermione's 'roommate' questioned, Alison, was her name, Hermione knew now. She didn't say anything, Snape had explained it all to her earlier.

"So it would seem." Collins spoke again, Hermione watched them all with interest, she hoped it would pass her the first few times so she could get a feel for exactly what it was they did.

"Alright then, the last person to finish their firewhiskey goes first." Hermione stared down at the full tumbler in front of her.

 _Damn._ She was not a drinker, not even a little bit.

"We drink on three." Alison.

"One." Hermione's chest constricted.  
"Two." Everyone snatched their drinks up for a drink and she groaned, following suit.

Of course, she was the last one to finish. She didn't even bother commenting on their cheating. She should have expected it. She was in a room full of Slytherins.

"Looks like it's Granger first then." Snape smirked, giving her a dark look and she shuddered but reached out to spin the wand.

It landed on Avery, who brushed blonde hair from his face and locked her in a serious blue gaze.

"Truth or Dare?"

He wet his lips, glancing around the circle before returning to her.

"Dare."

"I dare you to snog Mulciber for three minutes, right here." She cocked an eyebrow at him as he blanched. She heard a snicker beside her and glanced to see Alison giving her an approving look.

"No way, tha's nah happenin' mate!" Mulciber exclaimed, giving her a dark look and she only smirked back.

"I would be careful who I call a mudblood, next time." She pursed her lips at him, someone whistled beside them, Collins spoke up.

"Have to do it or admit failure." Avery scowled.

"Just let it happen, Mulciber." Snape kept his voice flat but his eyes were dancing with amusement.

"I'll get you back for this, Granger." Avery spoke before moving around the circle to Mulciber who tipped his head back. As soon as they started kissing there were groans from the other Slytherins, wolf whistles from a few, and they both made gagging noises.

"Your breath tastes like arse." Avery spat when they broke apart at the sound of a timer Mulciber glowered.

"You been eatin' arse to know what it tastes like then?" He wrinkled his nose, both boys looked incredibly annoyed. Avery reached out and spun the wand. Hermione was relieved when it didn't land on her but an unfamiliar Sixth year.

Hermione noticed a trend, as the wand was spun and several turns were taken. The girls were often forced to dress down to their knickers, either one article of clothing at a time, or all at once. The boys were frequently dared to drink themselves sick, or do something disgusting. A few were dared to snog one another.

But through it all, not a single Slytherin chose truth.

She considered this for a second, why would none of them choose truth. Looking around at their faces she realized that they didn't because they would look for weaknesses to exploit in one another.

It made sense, they were keen on self-preservation, so even if it wouldn't go that way, they would assume that would be the only truth questions asked.

Ones that would embarrass, or make good blackmail for the rest of the group. She tensed when the wand landed on her, casting a glance at the Sixth year who had made the spin.

He smirked.

Damn, she was the only one left in her full clothing. She supposed that was out the window now. She looked to the other girls, sitting and shivering in their underclothes.

Double damn.

She was so scarred, she used a concealing glamor for the 'mudblood' on her wrist but she couldn't maintain the constant strain on her magic to cover the rest.

"Well, Truth or Dare?"

She hesitated for a long moment before heaving a sigh and looking at her legs.

"Dare."

"I dare you to strip down to your knickers and sit on Snape's lap for three rounds." She winced, looked at Snape beside her, who was glowering at the pleased looking sixth year.

"What did you do to him?" Hermione cocked an eyebrow at Snape, who gave her a dark look and cleared his throat.

"I may, or may not have hexed his Hufflepuff sister." Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Surely you didn't."

"We 'aven't got all nigh' Granger." Mulciber gave her a look and she huffed, pulling her robes over her head and trying to think of something- anything else.

"You can do this, Granger." She was talking to herself as she slipped her shoes from her feet and wiggled out of her jeans. She pulled her shirt over her head and ignored sharp intake of breath beside her.

She looked at Snape.

"Do you mind?"

"Socks too." The sixth year smirked and Hermione huffed, leaning down and pulling them off her feet.

"Happy now." She felt Snape's hand on her waist helping her adjust in position on his lap. He glared at the boy for another long moment before moving finally speaking.

"I hope you know, what I did to your sister is nothing compared to what I will do to you, Horlice." He hissed and turned back to the game.

Hermione heaved a breath. She didn't want it to hurt her feelings that he was so upset with her being on him. Somehow it did though, and she hated it.

She spun the wand, which twisted around and landed right back on her and Snape.

"Well, that's unfortunate." She huffed, craning her head around to look at Snape behind her.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." He hummed, she could feel his voice rumble in his chest and she almost sighed at the sensation.

At least she had an advantage over the other girls, she was warm, they looked like they were freezing their tits off.

"I dare you to drink five tumblers of firewhiskey, in succession." It was the best she had, she hoped he had a decent alcohol tolerance, because she needed it to be Slytherin, but not cruel.

She was attempting to fit in with these people.

He grunted, filling his tumbler, she turned so she was sitting sideways, giving him more room to drink, without her hair in his face. He stared at her, one hand on her lower back, warm and slightly callused while the other lifted his drink.

He didn't remove his eyes from her once, while everyone in the circle counted until he'd reached five.

He didn't let her turn again as he leaned forward over her legs and spun the wand. It landed on Mulciber.

Who was worse for the wear, she wondered how much he'd had to drink.

She almost squeaked when a large, warm hand landed on her thigh and the thumb started to draw little circles on her skin. She shifted and glanced to Snape, who was still staring at her with dark eyes.

"Well, Truth or Dare, Mulciber?" His deep drawl burned across the circle, the boy in question shifted.

"Dare." He hiccupped, Hermione couldn't help her giggle.

"I dare you perform a lap dance for Collins." Mulciber and Collins groaned in time but carried out the dare. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye while she was observing to see he was still staring at her. His fingers moved in soft circles on her skin, making her shiver, gooseflesh broke out across her arms and stomach.

"I'm afraid Granger and I are going to retire for the evening." She gave him a wide-eyed look, her mouth opened slightly as he smirked at her.

"Have fun!" Collins chuckled, Alison squealed as she spun the wand and Hermione wondered how long she'd zoned out staring at his face.

He didn't sway at all when he scooped her up and carried her away from the boy's dorms where they'd been playing into the empty common room.

Presumably Slughorn had come and dispersed the fifth years and younger to bed earlier, leaving the Sixth and Seventh years to their fun.

He settled her on a sofa and settled into the floor beside her. He was obviously properly buzzed, though probably not knackered. He traced a finger over a scar, the one that ran from her shoulder to disappear beneath her bra. She hissed a breath.

"Is this from the battle you talked about?" She nodded, looking over at him.

"What about your wand?"

"I'll get it back when they're done. No one in there would dare hurt it." He traced the scar on her neck, the one from Bella's knife and she winced.

"You shouldn't have done that dare." He commented, that finger still tracing the scar on her neck.

"Everyone else had to, I didn't realize I was exempt." She snorted sarcastically and tried to sit up, he pushed her back down with a firm hand and wandlessly summoned her clothing.

He set the clothes on top of her and frowned.

"I don't like that they've seen you." She could tell he was warring with himself about something and grasped the clothes, jamming her feet into the jeans while laying down and shimmying them up her hips. He moved his hand so she could pull the shirt on before she flopped back down.

"I hardly see why you care." She huffed, watching the emotions dance across his face.

"I don't know." He stood, leaving her there, on the sofa watching his back. She bit her lip.

Why did he care?

Merlin, he was confusing!


	10. Nine :: Scream Queen

"You should earn an award; your screams could wake even the deadest of the dead." Snape stood in front of Hermione when her eyes blinked open.

He'd been avoiding her for a week, since All Hallows, and she honestly would never have expected to wake up to him staring down at her. She chewed her bottom lip, a habit she'd never quite gotten over from when she was younger.

She had managed to fall asleep in a chair in the common room and he was dressed like it was still time to be asleep. His black hair was messy on his head and a pair of pajama pants hung low on his hips. She blinked at his lean figure in front of her a few times before she wet her dry lips and looked up at his face.

"Sorry, I guess I fell asleep."

"I'd say so. How did your friends keep you from screaming all night long? They can't have gotten much sleep if you were doing that while they tried..." He trailed, tone bored.

Hermione blushed bright red.

"Well, see, they were my best friends from childhood and, well, I thought of them as brothers…"

"Spit it out would you? I'd like to get at least a bit of sleep tonight and it is obvious you are going to make that rather difficult unless someone helps you sleep. I don't see anyone else around here willing, do you?" Hermione gulped and shook her head.

"I don't guess so."

"Well, out with it then."

 _Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale._

"Theysleptinmybedandheldme." He blinked at her, a very plain look of 'did you really expect me to understand that?' on his face.  
"Oh for Merlin's sake! They slept in my bed- they alternated nights- and they would hold me while I slept. It was the only thing that worked." He cocked an eyebrow.

"Didn't you have a boyfriend for that?" Why did he keep just assuming she was in a relationship?

It was absurd, she'd never so much as caught the eye of the opposite sex.

She was Hermione Granger, frumpy, bookish, crazy haired, bossy, know-it-all.

She blushed red again.  
"I never dated, a bit busy with fighting off the forces of evil and all that. Witches and wizards like me would have been eradicated if we'd lost." She blinked up at him and he cocked an eyebrow.

"You cannot tell me you never dated anyone, ever."

"I went on two dates, one with a very foreign Quidditch player who bored me to absolute tears, and the other with a boy named Cormac who thought his hands should go down my top or up my skirt when it was clear I was interested in neither." She crossed her arms across her chest. He narrowed his eyes.

"It annoys me so very greatly when boys do not know their place when with a lady." He snarled and she shook her head with a little sigh.

"Some things never change then."

"And that thing never will." He held out a hand to her and she simply stared at it. His fingers were long and slender, already callused from time spent brewing and so very _him_.  
"Well come on then, I need sleep." He moved his hand up and down and she very hesitantly tucked her fingers into it and allowed him to pull her from her seat. Her book fell but she hardly noticed as she stared up into his face.

Her fingers sparked with electricity and she wondered if he could feel it.

She thought he could by the way he frowned at her fingers where they met his.

"We removed the charms to stop girls entering the boy's dorm but not the other way around, would you like to come to my room or try to find somewhere else to sleep?"

He was really going to do this for her? She felt like she was going to be sick, or faint, or both.  
Was it getting hot in there again?

 _She certainly felt a bit warm._

"Will I disturb your dormmate?"

"Haven't had one in two years, claim they're afraid I'll blow them to bits." He smirked, a wicked little smirk that lit his face and eyes and Hermione shivered.

"Making potions in your dorm?" She wet her lips.

"Precisely. You are a quick one, aren't you?" He huffed sarcastically as he led her to the hall that housed the boy's dorms. She felt incredibly hot again.  
"Come on now Granger, don't faint on me."

"Hermione."

"Pardon?" He furrowed his brow as he turned to look at her.

"Call me Hermione, please, only the purebloods called me Granger and it only really serves as a reminder." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"When you spoke of your blood status I assumed you meant you were a half-blood. Are you muggleborn?"

She sucked in a deep breath. He'd joined up with Voldemort in these years, would he try to destroy her like Malfoy had for being a muggle born?

"My parents are muggle dentists, yes, I received my Hogwarts letter via Professor Dumbledore personally. We'd always known I was different, we just hadn't realized how different I was." She set her jaw and his hand released hers and moved to brush a strand of hair from her face.

She twitched, a nervous motion that made him feel incredibly guilty, still his hand brushed her hair from his face and he found it was not nearly as coarse as it appeared. It was actually quite soft for something so entirely frizzy. He pinched some of it between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing it gently as he stared at the long caramel strands in the dim light.

He released the hair, brushing it back again, the backs of his fingers pulled gently across the soft skin of her cheek.

She tipped her face toward his hand and it was the closest he'd been to a woman in such a way. Of course, he'd held hands with Lily, spent time with her, he'd never touched her quite so softly though.

 _Lily._

His hand fell to his side and he huffed a breath.

"Follow me then." He breathed, trying to gather his wits and turned to lead her down the hall. She unnerved him.

"You don't hate me?"

He spun and narrowed his eyes on her.

"Why on earth would I hate you now? I'm not your biggest fan I'll grant you that, but why would I hate you? Your blood status? Please, if you know me in your time you should be well aware my best friend for many years was muggleborn." He sneered and she blanched a bit. Hermione hadn't meant to make him bring up Lily.

He only wanted to know why she acted so afraid of him. Did he hurt her as an adult? He didn't think he had it in him, not because of her blood status, not when she was so pretty, so soft.

He blinked the thoughts away and raised a questioning eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

"I know who your friends are. Remember how I said I know what's in there?" She pointed to his chest and he blinked down at her finger, caught by the sudden urge to wrap his hand around it.

If he felt like this when she was his student it would explain a lot about why he would have been cruel to her.

It wouldn't be a far stretch, it would be frustrating to want to reach out and touch someone who was essentially a child in comparison.

But she wasn't a child here, and it wasn't a little girl that stood in front of him, it was a woman his age with wild caramel curls and warm chocolate eyes. She was earthy and she was warm, she was light, he should know better, light and dark never went together, and he was most certainly the dark.

He managed a nod.

"Well, I know what is there when you have figured yourself out. Right now, I know, I know who you are spending time with. I know what they're telling you. They, they tortured me. I can't just forget that. I'll never forget it, they made sure." She heaved a breath and exposed her arm, the charms upon charms falling away to expose the still pinkish scar. It was still so fresh.  
"Now, which room is yours, I would really like to sleep and you claim you will help me." She blinked up at him and for once he let her have control of the situation. He wanted to insist she tell him who did it so he could end them before they had the chance.

He stuffed down the protective instinct.

Stupid, it was stupid.

He'd fucked up with Lily and now he was just looking for another witch to latch on to.

He had his friends, he didn't need to begin thinking affectionately of anyone.

"Here." He motioned toward the door as his hand came out to open it. When she stepped in she was enveloped by the scent that clung to him, stronger than she'd ever experienced and he motioned her toward the bed.  
"Do I have to touch you or can I just lay beside you?" She took a deep breath of the sharp scent of potions that bit at her tongue, the freshly cut grass, the soothing scent of old books and parchment, that subtle soap smell that he carried around.

She wet her lips, she knew he had to hold her but didn't want to make him so incredibly uncomfortable.

"They always hold me so I'm not sure. If I wake screaming with you lying beside me we can just move, can't we? So you won't have to hold me if you don't necessarily need to."

She knew he needed to. She hated that she wanted him to.

"I'd rather skip that bother. I would like to sleep." He pulled himself into the bed and turned the covers back. Hermione took off her robes and he stared hard at her legs for a long second.

The dark wizards he spent his time with were very interested in the flesh, he'd been exposed to a lot of legs but hers, for some reason, caught his eye and held it.

She slipped into the bed beside him and he pulled her to him, her body shivered and he wondered if this was what it felt like to truly be with someone. To hold someone for comfort instead of for pleasure. It was an odd concept.

Her hair against his chest was odd as well, it was so soft, like feathers brushing his skin and the faint scent of books and ink and cinnamon drifted off of her to surround him. She was soft, not like the women he'd been with who had all been jagged and bony, she was healthy but by no means bony.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to stop thinking and go to sleep.

His hand across her stomach felt her breathing even and he realized she'd fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

He realized something else as well; she knew he needed to hold her.

His eyes focused on the mass of brown curls that fell across his pillow.

She'd been willing to sacrifice her sleep, her comfort so that he wouldn't have to.

He wondered if she would have lay there awake all night, staring at his ceiling and letting him sleep.

One thing was for sure, she didn't belong in Slytherin, and she didn't belong in his bed.

She was far too sweet for that.

He reminded himself again.

Darkness and light did not go together, they would always battle.

His fingers couldn't help but caress the soft skin of her stomach where her shirt rode up beneath them though and he focused on that skin there, so soft.

"I'm so glad you're alive." She muttered and his fingers stilled.

She had to be talking about someone else. Dreaming of one of those boys she'd spoken about, Harry and Ron.

Had to be.

She wouldn't even realize in her sleep that she was tucked under his arm. In his bed.

It didn't mean he couldn't relish the moment however, and perhaps he could enjoy a few more before she found a way back.

He smirked, yes, she would need to sleep more than this once after all.


	11. Ten :: Battle of Wits

"You have to be the most infuriating man I have ever met." Hermione huffed, Sirius Black was leaned against the wall in front of her, cutting her off on her way to Advanced Potions. Slughorn had been growing increasingly annoyed with her tardiness which in turn made her increasingly annoyed with the cause.

He seemed to catch her every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the days she had this block of potions. It was becoming tiresome. He never said anything new, it was the same threats, over and over. It annoyed her being late to class, having a Professor look at her with disappointment.

She'd always been an over achiever, past or not she wasn't going to relinquish her status as the best.

"I'll take that as a compliment, sweets." He winked and Hermione cocked her eyebrow, her foot tapped in annoyance and her arms crossed across her chest. She probably looked a sight, wild brown hair nearly to her waist free and chaotic around her, foot tapping, arms crossed, black robes skewed from rushing to get ready for the day.

"I advise you move, immediately." She spun on her heel when she heard footsteps behind her. "Stupefy!" James Potter fell to the ground stunned and Hermione smirked and turned back to Sirius. She was twirling her wand in her fingers, a cocky expression on her face as she cocked an eyebrow at the gawking Marauder.  
"Now, if you'll excuse me." Her voice was sickly sweet as she flounced past him with as much attitude as possible while the dumbstruck Marauder gained his bearings and tried to help his friend.

"You'll regret this Granger!" Black called after her and she just rolled her eyes.

She hadn't meant to get into it with the boys but honestly, if they wanted a challenge they were going to get it. She'd tolerated Fred and George for years, fought a multitude of Death Eaters, and survived Bellatrix Lestrange. She was not afraid of James Potter and Sirius Black.

"That was bloody brilliant!" A boy joined Hermione in the hall with a laugh and she turned to him with a curious look.

"Name's Adrian, that was fantastic the way you handled Potter and Black." He chuckled and shook his head, Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him but smiled politely.

"Thank you, um, Adrian." She held out her hand politely as they walked, he shook it and she almost grimaced, his palms were quite sweaty. "Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you."

She sped up in an attempt to lose him and when she entered the classroom with him blabbering hot on her heels she glanced around, spotted Severus at a table by himself scowling and turned to Adrian.

"Sorry, my partner looks annoyed, wouldn't want to come to close." And she hopped over and slammed into the seat beside him as quickly as possible, her heart thudded in her chest.

Who would have ever thought she would consider Severus Snape her savior in situations involving unwanted male attention. Sure, he'd saved her from a werewolf, and any number of other dangerous situation, but unwanted affections? She almost snorted at the idea.

Severus cocked an eyebrow at her and smirked. "It seems you've earned an admirer, Hermione." She buried her face in her arms on the desk when he looked pointedly at Adrian, who blushed brightly.

"I know…" She drug out the 'w' with a bit of a whine.

"Whining doesn't suit you." He snipped, pulling his potion book out, his fingers trailed reverently across the worn cover.

"A lot of things don't suit _you_." She bit back, her tone giving as good as she got.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye to see a smirk on his lips.

"Elaborate." It was a cocky smirk, she recognized it well. It was a face the Snape of this time made often and she wondered if it was to hide that insecure interior she knew he tried to hide away.

"I can't." She grumbled, getting out her own potions book, though she planned to simply look at his, after all, it contained better information than what the publishers had done in her book.

"Then it would appear I've won." She scoffed.

"I'd hardly say that. I'd simply call it a tie for now." She chewed her tongue, her eyes drifting around the room as it slowly filled with more students. They had this class with Ravenclaw so at least she didn't have to worry about any Marauders coming in.

"I don't tie." His face dropped to a scowl and Hermione shook her head.

"Then count it as a loss for you." She shrugged and waved a hand, disinterested, his scowl deepened.

"I certainly don't lose."

"First time for everything." She shrugged, sitting up as Slughorn entered the room.

"Who even said you could sit here?" He grimaced and it was Hermione's turn to smirk.

"No one ever said I couldn't." She shot him a look from the corner of her eye, he was staring at her, black eyes sharp on the side of her face. She was so close to him she could see that they were such a dark grey they looked black, little flecks of silver catching the firelight and sparking gold. She tore her eyes away from his.

"A mistake I shall not repeat." Either he didn't notice her sideways stare or he chose not to mention it, either was fine with her.

"You'll never be rid of me." She beamed over at him and despite the scowl on his face, inside he was feeling a bit wobbly again. It was odd how she could cast that grin on him and make him feel off.

"We only have so many months left here." He shot back, trying not to seem unnerved.

"I'll follow you wherever you go after this." She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow.  
"Or perhaps I will teach here and when you take your position I'll still be here, you'll never be free of me." She chuckled. Severus took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. The fresh scent of Jasmine and honey mingling with cinnamon rolled over him. Before he knew it he'd missed half of what Slughorn was saying.

"What did he say?" Severus cocked an eyebrow when he finally opened his eyes.

"Should have been listening." Hermione crossed her arms, a cute little smirk on her lips.

"Must you be so insufferable?" He grunted.

"You seem to believe so no matter what time you know me in." She looked down at the table, her eyes taking on a sad sort of gleam.

"What did he say, Merlin witch?" He hissed, exasperated, Hermione chuckled and fixed him in her chocolate gaze.

"He said that we are having one of his famous Slug-Club parties and to please only invite one person." Hermione informed, matter-of-factly, like she was reading it off from a book.

"Finally, that took too long." His voice was deep, almost a growl and Hermione's stomach clenched.

She liked it _too_ much when he used that tone.

"He also said to gather your ingredients." Severus looked up from his book at her with a scowl.

"Then get to it, I will prepare the cauldron." He fought the urge to shove her away from him and turned to get a cauldron.

"And they call me bossy." She muttered as she hopped up to gather the ingredients.

Adrian caught her in the pantry and fixed her in his hazel gaze. He came closer and just breathed for a few moments while she collected a few ingredients. Hermione found it to be decidedly creepy but was unsure what exactly to do about it.

"Would you like to go to the party with me?" He seemed to be trying to get it out as quickly as possible and Hermione paused in reaching for an ingredient. His rush made his tone more nasal and incredibly garbled.

"I'm afraid she already has someone to accompany her to this particular event." Hermione let out a silent relieved breath. Saved by Severus, it seemed to be something he was fond of doing no matter what age.

She turned a bit and shot her eyes to his.

"I thought you may need help with the items on the top shelf." He drawled and she crossed her arms with a scowl.

"Cruel, you are cruel." She turned her eyes back to Adrian who looked a bit down, her hand instinctively came out to touch his arm comfortingly. "Sorry, perhaps next time?" She gave him a sweet smile and Severus rolled his eyes in annoyance and took a few of the ingredients from her before he went about collecting the others.

Adrian gave her a broad smile and nod, pushed his thick glasses up his nose and scurried away. Hermione, relieved, relaxed back a bit too far and her body leaned into Severus.

"You realize you just signed yourself up to take me to that party, right?" She leapt away from him like he was on fire and turned to face him. He cocked an eyebrow and gave a little nod.

"I'm aware, come, we barely have enough time to brew now. With your dawdling." Hermione muttered a few obscenities under her breath but followed, he really could be infuriating.

SSHG

They were laying in his bed together, as they had every night for the last two weeks. He'd grown more comfortable with her there, the familiar scent of her and the way her hair fell across his pillows and pressed against his chest.

He stroked long, potion stained fingers down her hair, an action that was almost too affectionate even for his tastes. He stared at her sleeping face.

She looked better, just from two weeks of sleeping properly. The dark circles and red rims around her eyes had quickly receded and her skin had taken on a much healthier pallor, no longer pale and drawn as his own was.

It had changed something in him as well, having the witch in his bed. He found himself growing softer to her, he wanted to run his fingers through her hair, stare at her sleeping face until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, he wanted to hold her, her soft warmth seeping from her and into him, burning him up somewhere deep inside.

The electric jolts he'd once experienced when touching her had become commonplace, they didn't disturb him as they had once. He knew they were still there, buzzing just beneath his skin but they no longer tormented him as they had.

He took a deep breath, his nose just close enough to her hair to breathe in the scent of her.

He'd learned that the Jasmine was her body soap, the cinnamon was her toothpaste- she claimed to despise the taste of mint- and of course the honey was simply _her_.

She was sweet, through and through, with a dark streak that made her dangerous to those who provoked her. Hermione twisted in his arms, her face coming into contact with his bare chest and he groaned, quietly. Her breath fell across his skin and rose gooseflesh on his arms, he stroked his fingers through her matted hair.

She normally plaited it at night, so that it wouldn't be a bigger mess than it had to be- or so she'd said, but she'd fallen asleep on top of a particularly difficult charms assignment with him lying beside her scratching out an application for a prestigious wizarding academy. Her head had tilted and fallen against his arm and he'd had to pry the book and parchment from underneath her.

He'd dropped both, unceremoniously off of the edge of the bed and settled his parchment and quill on the bedside table beside him before pulling her into his chest.

She snuggled up to him so willingly it was almost like she belonged there.

He warred with himself on the issue. She was from the future, eventually she would leave him.

Would he simply pine for her until she was born and came of age? That seemed like a long time to want something that he would most likely never have regardless.

He knew he couldn't get close to her.

It was unfortunate that with every smile, every shy glance, every blush- he grew that much more attached to her. At the rate they were going he would never let her leave.

He already didn't want her to, not when she was so warm against him.

Damn him.


	12. Eleven :: Brutal Reality

Hermione stabbed at her food, her eyes drifting across the room as she did so, never lingering long on any one group at any one table.

She'd always wondered what her school days would have been like if she'd not met Ron and Harry. Often fantasized that without Ron to tease her, and then break her heart later in life she would have been much happier.

She knew now that this was not the case. She was lonely, she missed the chatter of her friends, the way they always had something to say, something up their sleeves.

It really drove home the idea that she was just as boring as Ron thought she was. Boring, bossy, big haired know-it-all.

She ran her tongue over her front teeth, at least that had been fixed, if nothing else.

With a sigh she stood, her eyes drifting across the room one more time, as if she would catch a head of familiar red hair.

She didn't.

"All alone Granger? Where's your little Snivellus pet?" She heard a snide voice from behind her, only a few feet from the black lake and turned, her eyes lighting on four figures standing behind her.

"Potter, Pettigrew, Black, Lupin." She acknowledged each in turn before she turned back to the lake, the ripples across the surface in a soft fall breeze. Winter was coming, and with it snow would be falling and she wouldn't be able to spend nearly as much time outside- pretending she was where she belonged.

"Nothing to say for yourself Granger?" Potter, she groaned and turned back around.

"About what, if you don't mind my asking?" She cocked an eyebrow, Pettigrew sneered at her and she shot a glaring look back. He hid behind Lupin.

"Why you would spend your time with a disgusting grease-ball like Snivellus, first of all."

Hermione exhaled, her arms crossed across her chest.

"Aren't you all a bit too old for those nicknames, besides, I don't know what you're talking about Snape is in my house, that does not by default make him my friend." She kicked at the ground, her eyes moving between the two boys she perceived to be the greatest threat.

"No, but all that time you spend with him sure makes it look like it." Black, she shot him a scowl and cocked an eyebrow.

"And if he is my friend, is that a problem? You're the only ones allowed to have friends?"

"I say you're more than friends."

"I say you're an idiot, doesn't make it true." She bit back.

"Oh, you do have a crush on him though! Don't you!? Bet you just dream of old Snivelly slipping you some tongue, snogging you senseless." Hermione flushed bright red, she couldn't help it.

"So what if I do, it'd be better than snogging one of you lot!" She cried, her voice betraying her frustration. It was four on one, and they were breaking her down emotionally.

"Too bad he's in love with _my_ girlfriend then. Fun little triangle you have going on there..." James trailed, Lupin said his name quietly, as if trying to make his friend back down but earned only a sideways glance before he carried on.  
"He's the bad guy, Granger, and that means that he's going to lose, maybe he'll die because of his dark magic, maybe he'll be killed by one of those nasty gits he spends his time with. Either way you're only setting yourself to go down with him, and he doesn't even care about you." James sneered, turned and walked away, Hermione caught the sad look Lupin shot her before they all walked away, trailing behind their ring leader.

Hermione couldn't help it, her legs gave out from underneath her and she hit her knees, her eyes watering as she watched their retreating backs.

They were right, he didn't' care about her, he cared about Lily.

Only Lily.

She didn't miss when Black turned back to face her, wicked look on his face when he swung his wand up.

"Bombarda!" He called, with a chuckle, he watched as the small explosion right in front of her knocked her back, into the lake. She didn't even bother to defend herself as the frigid water closed in around her and her cloak weighed her down, pulling her further beneath the surface.

He turned and ran back to his friends, laughing all the way.

SSHG

"Granger?" She stirred, the familiar voice of Snape above her as her eyes fluttered open and she stared up into twin black jewels.

"Snape?" She sputtered, her throat was raw and dry, her lungs ached.

"Merlin, were you trying to kill yourself? Why were you in the lake, what happened?" The questions rolled from his mouth with little control and he watched her face contort in confusion.

She shoved him away, making him fall back on his arse as he stared at her. She scrambled to her feet and took off, running across the grounds and toward the castle. He barely caught her, his long strides giving him a slight advantage as he grabbed her arm.

"Leave me alone!" She croaked, her voice quieter because of the inhaled water from earlier in the night.

"No." Came his firm retort. He wanted to know what was going on, and he wanted to know now.  
"What happened?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with!" She shoved at him, her limbs weakening instead of strengthening under the strain of her experience nearly drowning.

"Granger, come on...Hermione!" He snapped, right into her face. She stopped moving, her body going limp while he held both of her arms. He eased them back toward the ground, the failing light of the day almost gone entirely by the time he managed to subdue her.  
"Now tell me, what happened."

"I hate you." She exhaled back, her eyes closed, her head against his chest. He couldn't help the curiosity that burned through him.

He knew they weren't exactly friends but he certainly didn't think she hated him anymore.

"You hate me?" He cocked an eyebrow, she pulled back, looking up at him.

"I hate you, I hate Black, and Potter, and Lily- I hate Lily." She sobbed, pulling away from him and backing up enough to pull her knees to her chest. He sat, dumbstruck, staring at the sobbing witch.

"What is going on with you?" He bit out, Lily, why had she even brought her up?

"Nothing important. Leave me! Just leave me alone!" She sobbed, he approached her and she whipped her wand out, pointing it at his face.  
"I said leave me alone, run along, go, cry back to Lily!" She pushed her wand at him and he stared at her, wide eyes confused as he stood. He tried to approach her again. She clenched her jaw.

"Avis!" The conjured birds launched themselves at his head, like little magical bombs they crashed and exploded around his head and he turned, muttering something about mad witches, and left.

She cried into her knees, her wand discarded on the grass beside her.

"I want to go home." She groaned, shivering in the cool night air.

SSHG

"Are you ready to tell me what the bloody hell crawled up your arse now?" Severus was on a chair in the common room when she entered almost two hours later. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying and she flopped into one of the other chairs, the warmth of the fire soothing her sore bones from the cold of drying in the air outside.

"I had an altercation with Potter and Black, that's all, no big deal."

"No big deal, what did Lily have to do with anything?" She chewed her lip, catching the wizard's eye, he'd been around her long enough to learn her tells.

"It doesn't matter, honestly, It's not important at all. I'm sorry if I said anything mean about her."

"Hermione..." His soft voice combined with his use of her name stopped her and she turned back to him, wide eyes locked on his face.  
"Tell me what happened." He stood, rounded his chair and stood in front of her, cupping her face in his hand.

She could see genuine concern in his eyes and it only made her own eyes water harder.

"They said- they said things that were just too close to the truth, that's all..."

"About Lily."

"About you and Lily." He watched her eyes, still not quite grasping what she was saying.

It was fine, she didn't need him to understand, it would only complicate things.

His lips brushed her forehead and he pulled back.

"Go shower, we can go to bed."

"I don't want to bother you." She looked down at her hands.

"Hey, I'll be the one to tell you when I'm bothered." He smirked when she looked up into his eyes.

"Okay." She left to do as he said, leaving him alone in the middle of the common room.

Was she jealous of his love for Lily? That couldn't be it, could it?


	13. Twelve :: Distractions

"I don't see what your problem is, you're late all of the time, showing bad form to the Dark Lord." Lucius leaned back in his seat, his grey eyes fixed on Severus who sat across from him, draped casually across one of the many tall wingback chairs that occupied Malfoy Manor's sitting room.

"It's difficult to escape the castle now."

"Is it that Granger girl Avery was telling me about, sounds like a fun girl- you could bring her around." Lucius winked, grey eyes twinkling. Severus pulled his lips into a thin line at the thought. No, Lucius would not be having his way with that witch, no matter how willing she may be.

"Back off, Lucius, you're married now anyway." The blonde held his hands up, shoulder length hair swaying around his face.

"You do want her then…" He trailed, Severus hissed a breath, his dark eyes narrowing.

"No, I want only Lily, you know this." He grunted, settling back in his seat again.

"Certainly, but Lily only wants Potter, and as I see it this Granger girl wants you, what's the harm in taking her for your own?"

"I don't want her." Severus hissed, his eyes shooting back to the fireplace.  
"I need to be going, anyway, when is the next meeting." Lucius downed a tumbler of firewhiskey and nodded, his grey eyes boring into Severus'.

"Well, I've heard Mulciber is interested in making her pay for embarrassing him. You know how we play Severus, you should stake a claim before he damages her."

"He won't touch her." Severus growled, black eyes narrowed on the blonde.

"He will if you don't, and you know it to be true." Lucius smirked.  
"As for the next meeting, it will be Saturday, making it easier for those of you at Hogwarts to attend. We expect you no later than nine p.m., do not be late, Severus." The black haired man nodded, ignoring Lucius smirking at his back as he left Manor to return to Hogwarts, and a witch waiting for him.

SSHG

Hermione screeched in surprise at the opening of Snape's bedroom door. She was in the bed, her eyes wide on the door when a head of dark hair entered the room.

It wasn't Severus and she glared at Mulciber as he stepped in the room. The door shut and locked behind him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She grasped her wand, her fingers edging around the wood and grasping it tightly to her side.

"I owe you some pay back, for that trick you played during truth or dare." He smirked, twirling his wand between two fingers, his dark eyes locked on her face. Hermione pulled her legs up to her chest, caramel eyes locked on his face as she tried to judge just how much a threat the wizard was.

"What are you going to do?" She tried to keep the nervous tremor from her voice but her stomach plummeted and changed her tone slightly.

"You'll see love, pretty girl like you, I've got a present for ya…" Hermione tightened her fist around her wand and cleared her throat, he wasn't going to get one over on her, not without coming out of nowhere.

He attempted to cast a body bind but she deflected it, her wand hand coming up faster than he could have anticipated.

"You're not doing anything to me." She asserted, jaw pressed out.

"Bombarda!" Hermione jumped up off the bed, landing on her feet. He leered at her bare legs, her sleeping shirt did little to cover them.

"It's a bad idea to tear up Snape's room, you know, he has a lot of volatile potions and ingredients in here."

"Yer not gunna distract me."

"You're not going to win against me, let's just call it a truce, hmm? Attacking housemates like this isn't the best idea." Hermione was edging around the side of the room, working her way closer to the door while Mulciber tried to round on her, giving her a near clear line to the door. She'd have to turn her back on him though, and that would give him the opportunity to cast against her.

She was fast, but she wasn't fast enough to make it out the door before he could catch her in a body bind.

"Everte Statum!" She cast toward him, watching as he was thrown backwards, it disoriented him just enough that she could dash out the door. She crashed into a solid figure and pulled back to find Avery standing over her, a wicked grin on his face.

"Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew from her hand and she groaned, shoving back to get away from Avery and watching as her wand skittered across the floor to land against the wall.

"Accio." Avery summoned her wand to him, shoving her back into Snape's room as he went. She narrowed her eyes on him. She could use wandless magic, but it was exhausting, a drain on her magic and it took focus. Focus that she didn't have when she was being physically shoved backwards into the only safe place she could remember ever having.

"Snape!" She called, looking over his shoulder as if the other boy was coming, both Mulciber and Avery turned to look and she bolted, running as fast as her legs would carry her through the common room and out into the chilled air of the dungeons.

"Think Hermione, think, think…" She glanced around, remembering the multiple tunnels and passages that ran under the school. She groaned, shifting from foot to foot and turned at the sound of the entrance opening behind her.

No time to think, just go!

She chose a direction quickly and took off running, dodging into a secret passage and running down through the spider web laden path with panting breaths, her lungs burned for dry air, air that wasn't damp like the dungeons as she forced herself to run harder.

She bowled head first into another chest, breathing heavily and crying out as they tumbled to the ground in a heap of flailing limbs. The cursing boy beneath her having broken her fall.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're do- Granger?" He cocked an eyebrow as he looked up at her. She gasped, a breath of relief and tossed her arms around his neck before she had a chance to think about what she was doing.

"Snape!" She cried into his shoulder, her face buried in his robes. He sat, on the floor, his legs on either side of her knees, dumbfounded as she hugged herself to him.  
"I'm so glad it's you, you just have no idea!" He grunted, trying to pry her off of him but it was like being caught in devil's snare, she was not releasing her hold on him.

It was only when he felt wetness against his neck that he realized she was crying, holding on to him for dear life, and crying.

"What happened now?" He gave an exasperated sigh and a nervous pat to her back, she hugged herself to him tighter and he wondered how long he could go without air before passing out.

Hopefully not much longer.

She pulled back finally, settling on her knees in the floor. He realized she was shivering, wearing nothing but her sleeping shirt and shorts, her bare legs pressed into the harsh stone of the path. Her hair was wild around her, spider webs clinging to the mussed locks and her face was red.

"What happened, Granger?" He clenched his fists, if Potter and Black had been bothering her again he would deal with them himself.

"Mulciber cornered me in your room, I managed to make it passed him and Avery caught me at the door, they disarmed me, I had to run." She heaved a breath, looking at the floor. He had no doubt she had put up a good fight. Two future Death Eaters however were not to be trifled with, they were training under the Dark Lord, he taught them skills, gave them strength that others would beg for.

"You're fine now, I'll deal with it, okay?" He caught her eye and she nodded her face turned back to the floor.

"I should have been able to handle them." He pushed a bundle of wild curls behind her ear and she blinked up at him, giving him a strange look, one that made his stomach flip strangely.

"You did fine, running was the right thing to do." Inside he was seething. He was going to kill them.

How dare they touch what was so obviously his- and in his room no less.

He froze in place, dark eyes wide on the witch in front of him.

His? She wasn't his!

No, Lily, he had Lily, there was only room for her in his heart. Damn Granger for making him lose sight of that.

"Let's go." He stood stiffly, watched as she shakily got to her feet and began to walk without looking back.

Hermione shuddered in the cool dungeon air. She'd seen a shift in his eyes. Sometimes he looked at her as if she were something more, and then others he gave her a look that said he wanted nothing more than for her to go away and never come back.

She cursed herself, her fists clenched.

The brutal reality of the day before came flooding back to her. Never her, always Lily.

She was pathetic.


	14. Thirteen :: Curiosity

"I wonder, Granger, what am I like in the future?" Snape suddenly asked, breaking Hermione's concentration on the scroll of parchment in front of her. She was working on particularly complicated homework for ancient runes and he'd effectively stilled all thought processes.

"What do you mean, like? Like how do you act?" She tipped her head to the side, a flick of her wand cleaning the ink from her quill before she settled it on the parchment and sat up. Her legs folded under her comfortably and she stared at him in the floor, working on an assignment of his own.

His long legs were stretched out on either side of his books and scrolls, quill trapped between his lips and dark hair falling into his face in a beautiful sweep of raven silk.

"All of it, what am I like?"

Hermione pursed her lips, straightening her legs and pulling herself off the edge of the bed to sit beside him. Sitting crisscross her knee brushed his leg, the material of his trousers scratchy against her skin.

"Well, you are brave, and dedicated, and loyal…"

"I'm not a bloody Gryffindor." He cut her off and she shot him a dark look, he pursed his lips.

"You want to know, don't interrupt." He nodded, quill now twirling between his fingers as he observed her.

"You are cruel, and sharp, snide, sarcastic, bitter, and lonely. You always made me think of someone who was incredibly lonely. You hide your emotions well, bear everyone's problems as if they are yours alone to take care of. You protect Harry, and Ron, and me with everything in you, no matter how much we annoy you." She wet her lips, watching him staring at her with wide eyes, the motions of his quill stopped.

"I never- I never hurt you, do I?"

"With your words yes, on a near daily basis. 'Insufferable know-it-all' is your favorite nickname for me. When Draco- Malfoy that is- enlarges my front teeth, you call it an improvement and you once told me that the potions lab 'is not a grooming salon, do something about that rats nest you call hair or I will be forced to spell it away' quite hurtful, I assure you." She was staring at her legs now, wondering if he thought those things of her in this time as well.

Was she ugly to him? She knew she was nowhere near as pretty as his Lily, she'd grown accustomed to the idea. Especially upon seeing her beauty with her own eyes.

His leg pressed harder against her knee and she glanced up, catching him just as a hand reached out to brush a curl that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear.

"I think that it is something I must do, being your Professor I certainly wouldn't want to express any liking for your appearance, would I?" She shivered at the slow drag of his knuckles across her cheek.  
"No, I think I would have to say those things just to keep myself under control."

He was staring into her eyes, locked there and Hermione wet her lips.

"Why?" The word came out breathy, she almost winced at how desperate she sounded even to her own ears. She'd be baffled if he didn't catch it.

"Because you are very pretty, Granger, your hair isn't a rat's nest, and it gives you character, it makes you stand out, so soft despite its appearance. Your eyes are the prettiest color of caramel, almost golden. You have smooth skin, and more than anything you are so gentle, so sweet." He leaned closer toward her and her heart beat wildly.

Was he going to kiss her?

Did she want him to? Of course she did!

She froze, her lips parting of their own free will before he seemed to snap out of his daze and pulled away from her. He stood so abruptly the books between his legs were scattered across the floor.

She didn't even have a chance to say a word to him before he'd darted from the door and was gone. Wrapping her arms around herself she sighed, taking deep, calming breaths to stop herself from crying.

She took a few more minutes to gather herself before she picked up his books and parchment, settled them in a neat stack, quill and inkpot on top, and pulled herself back up on the bed.

It was midnight before he returned and she lay in the bed, her back to his place. He had to know she wasn't asleep, she couldn't do so without him, but still he didn't say a word as he changed into his pajama bottoms and climbed into the bed behind her.

He pulled her to his chest, taking a deep breath and she only lay there, trying not to be hurt, trying not to let her feelings become too wrapped up in a man who would only be dead when she returned to her time.

SSHG

The weather was quickly turning colder and Hermione burrowed deeper into the cloak Severus had given her as she walked between shops in Hogsmeade. She'd managed to make some extra funds selling potions, whose uses she would not be discussing, that she learned from Fred and George.

How convenient it was for her she slept in the same room as a young man who brewed in his spare time.

She needed to find something to wear to the Slug-Club party, something dressy but not too much so and she was coming up very empty handed.

Ginny had always helped her with these things and without a friend to shop with she was feeling quite lost.

She shuffled up to the shop keep, trying not to seem embarrassed and gave the witch a shy smile.

"Can I help you today dearie?" The witch questioned and Hermione gave a little nod, her hair bounced around her face, the lack of humidity in the cool, crisp air meant her curls were tight and her frizz minimal. It was like a miracle.

"I don't have anyone to shop with and I was wondering, hoping maybe you could help me find something that suits, it's for a party, semi-formal?" Hermione smiled and the witch gave her a broad smile of her own.

"Absolutely, your complexion and eye color certainly bring to mind a few dresses I have back there." The witch flicked her wand and two garments came flying through the air to be caught by her waiting hand. One red and the other a deep emerald color that Hermione almost immediately fell in love with.

"May I try them?" Hermione held out a hand and the witch gave a little nod and motioned to a door to her left.

"Try them there, come on out in them and I'll give you an honest opinion." Hermione thanked the witch profusely before she slipped into the room.

She didn't pay any mind to the red dress, it would have been too long on her anyway, and slipped into the green. It was perfect and she found herself smiling so broadly she thought her face would split in the mirror.

It was fitted at the top and the skirt of it flared out just enough to accentuate her hips nicely, it was just a bit above knee length and showed of her legs, she thought she could transfigure a pair of shoes to match it easily.

When she stepped out the witch behind the counter gave her a big smile and nod.

"A little red lipstick and none of those boys will be able to resist you." Hermione blushed but grinned her pleasure.

"I'll take it." She changed out of it quickly and soon it was packed away in a frilly box and she was hauling it back to Hogwarts.

It had gotten dark while she'd been shopping and she noticed none of the other students that had been there were left, all having retreated back to their warm dorms and hot chocolates.

She fought down the chill that crawled across her skin as she began to walk but her eyes went huge when she heard a voice behind her.

"Granger!" She spun on her heel and was met face to face with the entire Marauder gathering.

"We need to have a conversation with you." James glared, probably still annoyed she'd stunned him and she crossed her arms.

"Please tell me you aren't going to bully a lady on her way back to her school while she's alone?" Hermione stood firm in her place, trying not to show even a glimmer of concern.  
"I know you're better than that." She blinked and Sirius' scowl faltered.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why do you think you know so much about us?" He growled and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Because I do." She spun on her heel and made to walk away when they caught her with a spell she specifically recognized as one of Severus' and all of a sudden she was hanging upside down in the air by her leg.

She screeched her displeasure and made a few inappropriate hand gestures at the four boys who stood smirking. Well, all but Peter, who looked like he was only happy because his friends were happy.

She really did detest the rat.

"Quit being gits and put me down!" She demanded, her dress lay spilled on the ground and she would destroy them if they'd ruined it.

Destroy.

Harry wouldn't even have a chance to be born, she would rip all of their testicles off.

"Promise not to tell anyone what you know." Lupin looked uncomfortable and Hermione had the good sense to try to get him to make them back off.

"Quit being jerks and I will." She huffed, her eyes on the werewolf.  
"You don't want to do this." He watched hard, his eyes and hers locking.

Suddenly she was dropped rather unceremoniously onto the ground and she felt her wrist crack with a terrible pop as a hex hit Sirius straight in the back and he fell, slumped forwards.

"I suggest you take care of your friend before I do the same to the lot of you." Hermione couldn't focus on the owner of the voice as she writhed on the ground. Her wrist was in agony. Her eyes clouded with tears.

"Ow…"


	15. Fourteen :: Raging Granger

When Hermione finally managed to get enough control over her pain to see who'd helped her she found the shop keep who'd helped her pick a dress standing leaned over her making sure she was okay.

"Those boys need to learn their place, gets me fired up seeing them picking on a tiny little thing like you." Hermione tried to smile but it came out a grimace and she gripped her wrist more tightly to her chest.

"Thank you, really, I would have gotten out of it eventually, they probably wouldn't have hurt me too badly." She hissed when she made to stand and her wrist throbbed.

"Do you want me to walk you to the gates? I don't think they'll come back tonight but I don't want you to faint or anything." She helped Hermione pick up her box and Hermione finally managed a smile as she took the box from her and held it under one arm.

"No, I'll be fine, trust me I've been through worse. Thank you so much again for helping me…?" She wanted the witch's name, she'd definitely have to find some way to thank her.

"Okay, well, be careful, don't go wandering or anything." The older witch winked a bright blue eye, but gave no name, and hustled back to her shop, Hermione sighed and shook her head as she made her way rather slowly to the gates and back into the castle.

Severus was standing in the entry and she'd almost think he was waiting for her if she didn't know better. Especially when he caught her by her arm- the uninjured one luckily- and asked where the hell she'd been.

Hermione tugged her arm away and gave him a not-so-subtle glare.

"If you must know, I was buying something to wear to the party." She made to cross her arms and let out a little cry of pain when her wrist touched her other arm.

How could she be so stupid to forget it was probably broken?

He really was too distracting.

"What happened?" Black eyes homed in on her arm and she glanced down at her wrist, it was huge, and turning a nasty color of purple.

She huffed a sigh. "If you really want to know then carry this," she thrust her box at him and he took it with a glare. "And follow me."

He did so, with a surprisingly little amount of resistance and walked beside her all the way to the Hospital wing.

Hermione had never been so happy to see Poppy Pomfrey in all her life. She knew she was in good hands and had been terribly worried about who the Mediwitch would be.

"Drink this." Poppy bustled away as Hermione downed the potion and her wrist popped with a terrible crack. She bit her knuckles to keep from crying out and Severus cocked an eyebrow and shuffled her box to his other hand.

"Ready to explain now?" He watched her closely and she leaned back against the wall, put her feet up, and patted the spot beside her on the bed for him to sit. He did so, they slept together every evening, it wasn't as if being beside her was at all odd.

"I ran into your buddies the Marauders, they used a spell to hang me upside down, I'm certain they got a very nice look at things I dread to think about. Then the witch who sold me the dress hexed Black and when he fell it broke his concentration and I fell, I just landed a little funny." Hermione groaned at the pure malice on his face and shut her eyes for a second.

"Look, I know you are always looking for things to fuel your hatred of them but can we just pretend this didn't happen?" She had her eyes closed and Severus observed her very closely.

He was incredibly angry they'd used his own spell on her, he was even more angry that they may have _seen things_. He grimaced, it wasn't as if she was his, he shouldn't be feeling quite so entirely jealous.

He had Lily, Lily who would never care for him the way he cared for her.

He didn't need to do this again.

But for some reason, when he thought of Lily, his mind shifted to thoughts of Hermione. It was odd, it went along with the rest of the odd things the witch made him feel.

He cast a Tempus and almost groaned. He was supposed to meet with Lucius, now he was late, which was the whole reason he had been watching for Hermione to begin with. He wanted to tell her to wait in his room for him, and to stay out of his things.

"You're late." He looked up at her to see honey eyes on him, they held him, locked him there and no matter how hard he wanted to pull away he couldn't.

"Do not judge me, Hermione." His voice was low and so very, very deep. Hermione held his gaze a bit longer before her eyes dropped to her hands and she shrugged.

"It is your life, Severus." He hated how small her voice sounded, knew she wasn't telling him something. No matter how much it infuriated him though, he couldn't figure out how to make her tell him.

"I'll be back later, wait for me in my room?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

"I think I want to go to my room tonight." She wouldn't look at him and it made him feel a bit ill. His stomach was clenching there was a knot in his throat.

"Don't be like that." His hand came up to brush a curl from her face and she pulled away, he could see the tears on the brink of falling.

It made him irrationally angry.

And what did he do when he was irrationally angry?  
He lashed out.

"You know, you have no right to be upset with me. I don't even know why I waste my time with you!" He spat and stood, when he turned on his heel to go he paused for a moment.

"I don't either." She muttered and he slammed from the room. His heart was heavy in his chest and his stomach was contracting terribly.

Was he really going to do this again? Choose the allure of the darkness over a witch who was so kind to him?

He made his way to the secret passages below the castle to exit and his hair stood on end.

She'd stood up for him, she'd been injured by Black and Potter, she'd endured his mood swings with a grace like he'd never seen.

And he'd just all but spit on her.

He grunted at himself, low in his chest and stopped in the middle of the hall.

He knew he was on the precipice of a decision. Knew he had to go one way or the other.

Would she still tolerate him if he made the wrong choice?

Was the power really worth it?

The power.

The power to never be bullied again.

The power to keep the Hermiones of the world safe from the Potters and Blacks.

He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose.

What was the price of the power? Why did he suddenly care?

He kicked the wall with a firm foot and turned to make his way back into the castle.

He would owl Lucius to keep the man from being too cross with him and he would go back to the witch.

He hadn't made a decision, he was just going to put it off for a bit longer.

SSHG

"Why are you back?" Hermione shot him a glare from her seat by the fire, a book open in her lap and her eyes swollen and red. He blinked, very, very slowly and walked over to her side.

"Don't give me that look, you know." His voice reverberated around the empty room and so did the sound of the witch's book slamming shut and falling rather abruptly on the table beside her.

She stood and he was struck by how much smaller she was than him, how easily he could end up hurting her.

He found he really didn't want to end up hurting her.

"I haven't the faintest what you are talking about, Severus." She made to walk around him but he caught her by the arm and pulled her back in front of him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You don't get to be mad at me. You know how this goes, you know what I want. You must, you seem to know everything else. How can you expect me to be something I am not?" His face had been growing closer and closer and she narrowed her eyes on his. They were locked in a battle of gazes.

"I don't expect you to be something you're not. I expect you to be everything I know you are." She pulled her arm from his grasp and stepped back. He watched her with dark eyes, the firelight played shadows across his sallow face.

She wanted to hug him, slap him, and snog him all at once.

It was incredibly frustrating.

"Hermione, you, you could leave any day now, and where would that leave me? What would that do to me? If I grow close to you, if I abandon the things that drive me for you, I will only be left alone in the end, alone as I would have been had you never come." Hermione's breath caught in her chest.

If he was saying those things it meant he'd considered it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Don't think about it, do what you want, goodnight, Severus." She stepped around him and slipped down the hall to the girl's dorms.

He was right, she couldn't expect him to be someone he wasn't. She couldn't expect him to be the right man for her when she may not even be around in a week.

She hadn't thought about it like that. She'd made the past her home, and no matter how much she adored her friends, she'd begun to think of them less and less.

She needed to speak with Dumbledore, needed to figure out how to get home and stop the madness.

He would be dead when she got there, and it would break her heart all over again, but it had to be done.

She didn't have a choice.

She heaved a sigh as she fell into her bed, alone. She'd never had a choice.


	16. Fifteen :: A Slugclub Christmas

Hermione sat, curled in a chair in front of the fireplace. She was attempting to knit, again, and failing miserably at the task. She was so frustrated when she'd managed to knot the work up for what felt like the hundredth time she thrust the needles and wool into the fireplace, coughing as they burned and filled the common room with an unpleasantly scented smoke.

"Great going, Granger!" One of the younger years hissed at a cough as they fled. She ignored them, staring at the crackling knitting burning up with a strange sense of glee at the way it was consumed in the fire.

She hadn't slept in almost a week, that had to have something to do with it.

She concentrated hard on the fire, not bothering with anyone else in the room, even those who came in later and complained about the smell.

It was more than two hours later that she was ripped from her concentration by Severus who stood in front of her with a scowl and his arms crossed irritably across his chest.

"Yes?" She cocked an eyebrow as he stared into his face, black eyes narrowed on her.

"Honestly, witch, did you forget?" He raised his own eyebrow and she glanced around, blinked a few times, and then her face lit up with realization.

"Oops." She made a guilty face and he rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Hurry up won't you, we haven't all day." She glanced down at his dress robes and almost had to do a double take. He looked like his teaching self, all jade buttons and deep black finery. She wanted to run her fingers down that crisp line of buttons.

"Right." She nodded dumbly and slipped from the chair, clutching her knitting magazine to her chest and sliding past him, as soon as she was out of his sight she ran as quickly as she could into her room.

Her heart thudded and her stomach curled with delicious desire. It was annoying to find someone like him so attractive, the younger version, while not as refined, still had the same tall, dark, mysterious appeal.

It was frustrating.

Hermione slipped into her green dress and immediately smiled her pleasure at her appearance in the mirror. She loved the way it fit her body perfectly and even the dark circles that were beginning to form under her eyes again couldn't break the radiance it pulled out. She threw her hair into a quick, messy up-do, and transfigured some shoes to suit.

Leaving the room she had to heave a few deep breaths, trying to get her composure and hoping she looked nice enough for him as she made her way to the common room.

"At least you make quick work of it." He grumbled, his back to her as she came up to him.

"Always the gentleman." She hissed and he whirled on her, his face set in an irritated scowl.

If he'd been planning on scolding her it fell away when he saw her and his eyes locked on her body.

 ** _Fuck, speak, speak. I didn't expect her to look so lovely. Shit. Talk Severus you idiot…_** He scolded himself, Hermione gave him a shy smile that made his stomach flip over and he could feel a familiar heat lick at his stomach.

"Acceptable?" She did a little spin and he swore he was panting.

"Very much so." He held out an arm to the witch and she smiled, latched hers in it, and allowed him to take her away for the evening.

SSHG

"You've hardly spoken all night, think you're better than us?" Someone had spiked the drinks for the evening and Hermione leaned against the wall, having been smart enough not to partake. Apparently, it was with a potion that made everyone incredibly irritable. She wondered what it was, and who was clever enough to have done it.

She groaned, she was the only person in the room who didn't drink, even Severus was sitting off to the side scowling at nothing.

Lily and James had left early, arguing and spitting angry retorts at one another as they left the room. It was interesting to see the happy couple at one another's throats.

Slughorn was off cursing his students' names and lecturing a particularly angry looking Hufflepuff girl. His pudgy finger thrust in and out of her face. Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved back the boy who'd been giving her hell for the last fifteen minutes.

"I told you to leave me alone Dahmir, you've been given a potion." She crossed her arms and he only leaned in closer, she considered headbutting him for a moment but decided against it.

That might hurt.

"I think you need to be taught some manners."

"If anyone will be teaching her manners, it will be me." Severus had stepped up behind him, he looked fit to be tied and Hermione focused on the floor. He was actually annoyed with her for things, the enhancement of the potion could make things particularly dangerous.

"I think I should go get Dumbledore, this is obviously out of control." She made to walk away but he grabbed her arm and tugged her back while Dahmir took off to scream at…a chair? Hermione squinted. A chair.

 _Okay_.

"Take a deep breath and think about what you're doing, Severus." She narrowed her eyes on him, he watched her honey eyes and the feelings in him were all jumbled into an angry mass.

She expected so much of him, just like _Lily_.

Couldn't anyone just like him for who he was?

"What is it that you women think you have the right to expect things of us? Why do you think you can just tell us how we are supposed to be and that will be the end of it!?" He'd grabbed her by the other arm and was squeezing fairly hard.

She found she wasn't quite as frightened as she'd thought she would be, in fact, she knew somewhere deep down even in his lowered state of inhibition he would be hard pressed to hurt her. She just needed to remain calm.

"Why don't you let me go talk to Dumbledore, get you sorted, and then we can talk about this okay?" She kept her voice level, her tone even. His chest rumbled his irritation and she winced, it wouldn't do to be getting turned on when she was supposed to be helping him.

"Why can't you just take me as I am, Hermione? You, Lily, you both just want to change me. Fix me." He shook again.  
"I'm not broken."

The change in her face was not subtle, the way her eyes softened and her body laxed completely under his hands. He released her immediately and breathed heavily, as if trying to get a grip on himself.

"Oh Severus, you're not broken, you're perfect. I shouldn't have said anything about your choices." He was confused when her hand came up to cup his cheek but he didn't pull away. Long black hair tickled the back of her hand and fingers.  
"I just, I know what happens because of your choices and I care about you so much. I always have, and I just don't want to see that dead look in your eyes again. I don't want you to _have_ to go through it." She confessed and pulled her hand away, he caught her when she turned to leave and his look of rage was gone.

"You don't want to change me?"

"Absolutely not, if anything your darkness is what drew me, always drew me to you. I don't think your darkness is wrong, I just want to eliminate your pain. I don't want it to ever happen." Her wide honey eyes pierced right into him and he groaned, his brow furrowed.

"Would you be with me, even when I was old, would you have tried?" Hermione nodded, her face the picture of honesty.

"I wanted to, so badly. When Harry told me what happened with you and Lily, it broke my heart. She should have forgiven you, you were hurting." Her hand came up to brush black hair from his eyes. The yelling and frustration around them had faded into the background, nothing but white noise.  
"It doesn't feel good to need someone to stand up for you. Not when you've spent your whole life being picked on. I know how that feels. Buck teeth, frizzy hair, mudblood, bookworm. I've heard it all and it is terrible."

"How are you so damned understanding?!" A hiss of air left her body as she was slammed against the wall. She stood her ground, ignored the dull ache in her back. His body had worked itself flush with hers and she watched him, stared right into his eyes.

He expected to find fear, instead he found trust. So frustrating, why did she trust him?

The crash of chairs broke them from their moment and both of their heads whipped to the source of the sound. Hermione's eyes went wide when she found Adrian on top of Dahmir, choking him.

Well, that was enough of that then.

She straightened her dress, shoved Severus off of her a bit, whipped out her wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" She called and all eyes fell on her as a fox sprang from her wand and turned to face her, she sent it quickly with a message for Dumbledore.

Severus stared at her, hard.

"How did you learn that?"

"I had to." She wet her lips. Her Patronus had been an otter, a cute little thing, before she'd come to the past. What had changed?

She stared down at her wand, her hands, everything looked the same.

Why a fox?

She really needed to get some answers.

Dumbledore and McGonagall entered a few seconds later, thanked Hermione, and began administering the proper potions to counteract whatever they'd been given. She slipped from the room while they were there, her thoughts swirling as she made her way back to the dungeons.

What did it mean?


	17. Sixteen :: Alone

"You spend Holiday break here?" Hermione was surprised to see Snape sitting, one leg crossed over the other, on a sofa in the common room, sipping eggnog.

He gave her a long look and short nod, motioning to the space beside him.

They hadn't spoken since Slughorn's Christmas party almost a week before and she was feeling the effects of not sleeping in his room.

In fact, if she was being honest with herself she missed him, terribly.

"I stay, no matter what Holiday, the only time I return to the hovel my parents call home is during the summer, and this year that shall end as well." He sipped his drink and she gave a nod, timidly approaching the space he'd offered her and sitting, as far from him as possible.

Her nerves were on edge.

"I remember, your father is abusive, isn't he?" She spoke, almost under her breath and he caught her in his dark gaze, eyes narrowed on her face.

"I am not weak." He growled, Hermione huffed a breath, brushing the hair from her shoulder and keeping her eyes trained on his face.

"Of course not, you simply have an unfortunate home situation." She offered, watching as he took another drink of his eggnog before placing it gently on the end table beside him.

"Let me ask you something Granger."

"Hmm?"

"Did you mean what you said, about caring for me as I am? That night, at Slughorn's party, I was ready to hurt you- I was so angry, and I'm sorry for that, but, did you mean it?" She smiled, shifting closer to him. Her knees brushed his as he dropped his leg from its position over the other.

"Of course I meant it. I cared for you a great deal in my time and in this time the ground we are standing on is just much more even. It's given me a chance to develop…Feelings." She hated it and really felt like she was putting herself on the line. She hoped he wouldn't remember Lily in that instant and run away from her again.

She hoped Lily was the furthest thing from his mind when he was looking into her eyes with his knees brushing hers.

"You have feelings for me?" He breathed, his dark eyes flicking from hers to her lips, and back again. She nodded her curls bobbing around her face as he tentatively put his hand out and let it rest on her bare thigh.

She shivered at the contact and didn't dare to push him away, his hand was warm on her leg, chilled from the cool dungeon air. She wondered how the Slytherins weren't always sick, living in the cool dungeons.

"I care for you a great deal." She couldn't say she loved him, not yet, not and risk him walking away from her. He brought up his other hand, cupping her cheek and she smiled, nuzzling her face into the action.

"How could you, possibly? I haven't been very kind to you, since your arrival." He watched her eyes, she was very aware she was being interrogated. He was gauging whether he should pull away, if she was going to be hurtful, or if she was being honest and had pure intentions.

She smiled softly, turning her head to kiss his palm and earning a wide-eyed look.

"I would stay here, for you, in this time. I would stay here and grow up with you, and be with you forever. I don't care that you've been a little mean, so have I, it's nothing compared to the way you treated me in my own time. Snape- Severus, I mean that." She grasped his hand against her face beneath one of her own smaller hands, her eyes pleading with him to understand. Her entire being pleading with him to understand.

He leant forward, as if on instinct, his lips brushed hers and that electric tingle was back, shooting across her body and making her feel blissfully numb. Severus scooted closer, pulling her up so that she sat sideways across his lap as his lips moved against hers.

Soon his tongue trailed the seam of her lips, urging her to allow him to deepen the kiss. She did, of course she did, she'd be an idiot not to, and she knew it as soon as the smooth muscle slipped into her mouth and began to massage against her own.

She moaned into the kiss, he really was quite skilled at kissing, and threaded her fingers into his hair. Holding his face against hers as he devoured her mouth, his head turning this way and that, angles changing and stealing her breath away as his hand roamed her hip and thigh, slipping beneath her jumper to explore the bare skin of her side.

She was panting when he broke away unable to speak as she stared into his eyes wondering what he would do now.

"I think I've been waiting to do that for some time." He admitted his voice a gravel rasp that made her heart leap into her throat, she moved her hands from his hair hooking him on either side of his face and wetting her lips.

"I have no clue what you were waiting for." It was her turn to initiate, and she did her lips latching onto his as if she needed him to breathe and he wrapped his arms around her. He was holding her tightly to him as he once more took control of the kiss deepening their motions and flipping her so that she lay beneath him on the sofa in a movement so smooth she almost didn't notice.

Now, hovering over her his lithe body above hers and his hips trapped between her thighs he kissed up and down her neck. His lips devoured any part of her he could reach. Fingers fisted in the hair on either side of her head to expose her neck to him.

"Gods you taste good, I've dreamt of you, of having you, even as you lay in my bed sleeping peacefully, I crave you Hermione." He groaned into her neck his tongue flicking out before his lips attached sucking and nipping until he was certain she would have a mark there before moving on to another spot. She moaned her hips bucking up to meet his seeking friction and finding it in the form of a very restrained erection.

"Severus, ah…" She moaned, trying to form a coherent thought not like this, in the common room, not with her feelings so raw, not yet. She grasped him by his shoulders her eyes fluttering as she fought the very real pull of her body begging her to let him have her. To take this and keep it for as long as she could.  
"Please, stop." She finally managed to gasp out and he pulled back looking her in the face and she could see the worry there in his eyes.

Oh no, he thought she was going to reject him.

"I see." She caught him by the back of his head her fingers locked in his hair before he could move to get up. She was flushed, and flustered, and having a difficult time getting her bearings.

"No, no! Don't go, I just, I need to talk to you for a second, and I can't speak when you're doing well…That…" She managed and she could feel the bright blush working its way from her face to her throat. She bit her lip to keep from groaning at the glaring nature of her inexperience.

"What then?" He still looked ready to flee, ready to leave her and stop all communications. She knew it would happen if she let him go and she needed to swallow her nerves and tell him what was going through her mind.

"I've never, what I mean to say is…" She heaved a deep breath inhaling the scent of him and growing dizzy for a long second. She set her jaw determined not to let this end badly not when she had made so much progress with him in one day. Not when he had not spoken to her in a week, and certainly not when she felt so alone and so desperate for his attentions.  
"I've never been with anyone, and I don't want it to be like this, frantic and desperate in the common room." He watched her his black eyes wide.

"How in Merlin's name have you made it to, what? Eighteen? As a virgin." She tensed, her eyes closing at the familiar sting of being rejected herself so many times.

"If you must know." She snipped releasing his hair and crossing her arms across her chest in the small space that separated them. He cocked an eyebrow, looking more amused at her ire than upset.  
"No one ever thought I was good enough for them. Bossy, bushy haired, know-it-all, only pretty enough for boys when she wears pretty dresses and employs enough sleak-eazy to win a war." She huffed looking away from him.

Severus caught her face with two fingers turning her eyes back to look up at him and smirking.

"They were idiots, complete dunderheads." She pursed her lips her nose wrinkling a little.

"Please, you can't tell me you haven't thought the same thing." She huffed trying to look away again he held her facing him staring intensely into her eyes.

"I have thought no such thing, and if I said it in the future it was probably to convince myself, as it is you are absolutely gorgeous." He released her face to run a hand down her side his fingers trailing her curves.  
"Absolutely beautiful." He exhaled a near whisper as he caught the arms that were crossed across her chest in his hands and trapped them above her head in one of his.

It was uncomfortable but she was so interested in what he'd do next she could hardly care, and then he shifted.

The cup of eggnog he had been drinking clattered to the floor but his lips were back on hers the fingers of his hand that didn't hold hers caressing her side. Snaking their way up beneath her jumper.

Pulling away she gasped for breath, watching as he smirked down at her.

"And as for your first time, my sweet, innocent little witch. I assure you I will find a way to make that special. For now, a bit of snogging cannot hurt, can it?" The boyish smile on his face didn't suit any thoughts she had of him but the butterflies it erupted in her stomach were enough to send her into fits.

He dipped, kissing her gently before pulling away and raising both eyebrows while keeping her arms locked above her head.

"I suppose not." She exhaled finally and he smirked diving back in to give her one of the most breathtaking kisses she'd ever had.


	18. Seventeen :: Gifts

There had never, in all her life been a time that Hermione Granger did not receive one gift on Christmas morning. Still, as she woke in Severus' room, wrapped comfortably in his arms on Christmas day she knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that there would be no gifts for her this year.

When she moved, however, and felt the strength of the young man at her back and the warmth of his arms around her she realized she had received one of the greatest gifts of her lifetime. To have been allowed this time with him- to have been given the opportunity to grow close to him and come to love him- these were things that she never could have hoped for in the future from which she came.

She rolled in his arms, pleased to see his eyes open to meet hers. They were deep and dark in the dim light of his room and she smiled at him. It was an easy motion to press an open-mouthed kiss to his jaw. It was something she had done every morning since the start of Christmas break and their time spent on the sofa together.

"Aren't you chipper this morning." He smirked before dipping to give her a little kiss on the corner of her mouth. She closed her eyes at the warm rush of his breath across her lips and felt that dull burn in her abdomen it seemed only he could stoke.

"This is the best Christmas ever." She sighed out without really thinking and he froze. His arms were tense around her and she opened a single eye just a slit to look out at him. He was staring down at her with wide onyx eyes, his lips were pulled into a thin line.

"Surely it is not, certainly you are accustomed to receiving a plethora of gifts. Of receiving love in large measure and seeing family and friends."

"I am." She breathed with her eyes open fully now. She stared into his with what she hoped was an open honesty and hooked the arm she did not lay atop around his neck. Her fingers played at his long blue-black hair, soft and silky against his sleep-warmed neck and pillow. "Those gifts have no bearing on waking up with you, Severus." She wet her lips, nervous at his response to her words.

Apparently, there was no need to be as he let out a low groan and captured her lips with his own. There wasn't a thought to her morning breath, or his, or anything else that may keep their mouths apart. It was only this. It was only now.

She cooed into his mouth when his tongue parted her lips- pressing her into the mattress as he flipped to stretch the length of his body atop her.

 _Now, now_ , she thought, her breathing coming heavily as his incredibly long, slender fingers traced up her sides.

She was wearing a thin t-shirt that hung down to her knees and a pair of plain cotton knickers. Having opted for comfort and not to be sexy the night before. Perhaps now wasn't the best time?

Before she could overthink it however his fingers trailed the skin of her hip down to her thigh and then back up again, coming ever closer to her breasts.

"Gods Severus, now, please." She moaned, softly into his searching mouth and he pulled back. His black eyes searched hers for a long moment. He was looking for something though what it was she couldn't say.

"Are you certain? I have heard a witch's virginity is quite important, Hermione." He was staring down at her from his hovering position. Propped on his elbows with his lips pursed and his eyes searching hers.

"It's been you, always you, forever, always. Please Severus, I ache for you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to latch her lips to his again. He gave a short grunt of surprise but said not another word as he rose off of her and settled on his knees between her thighs. Hermione watched him with interest. Curiosity burned behind cinnamon eyes as he drew his hands up her thighs to the hem of her top.

"Sit up, Hermione." His dark voice commanded and she obeyed. Her eyes remained on his as she rose to a sitting position with her thighs still spread around him and he tugged the shirt up over her head. She gasped at the cool air and found him smirking when the soft white material was gone from her. The cool air of the dungeons immediately hardened the peaks of her breast. Rosy nipples drew up and pebbled before his eyes and she watched him- interested.

His eyes were locked there for longer than she might have anticipated and despite her Gryffindor brass she contemplated raising her hands to cover the straining tips. She wanted him to look- she didn't want him to look- she was puzzled and confused by her reaction to his hard stare.

"Circe you're lovely, exactly as I anticipated." He groaned, diving forward and knocking her off kilter. She fell back into the freshly cooled sheets as his mouth latched to one of her nipples. A groan followed closely by a moan of pleasure broke her as he suckled and sampled her flesh.

He thought he would never get enough of her sweet skin as he pulled more of her breast into his mouth and groaned around the straining flesh. His hand came up to cup the other. Fingers flicking and playing at the twin of the pebble that strained in his mouth, his tongue flickering over the sensitive peak again and again as she moaned and strained beneath him.

Her hips rocked up, seeking friction when she had little idea exactly what she wanted from that friction and he pulled back with a smirk. Looking into those cinnamon eyes was like staring into a wellspring of everything he'd ever wanted- everything he'd ever desired.

This witch was compassionate. She was kind, understanding, selfless, and she was lying in his bed begging him to take her.

He drew his thumb along her lower lip and nearly lost focus when that little tongue flicked out to lick its tip. He groaned and pushed the digit into her mouth- growling when she pulled it in willingly and circled her tongue around it lasciviously. He could only imagine what her hot mouth would feel like on his cock. His cock that even now strained more harshly against the confines of his sleeping bottoms.

"Fuck girl…" He hissed popping his thumb free and leaning down to capture her mouth with his own, pushing her lips apart once more with his tongue and delving inside. He coaxed her tongue into his own mouth, inviting the slick muscle in and sucking on it tenderly, wrapping his own around it, nipping at it with his teeth.

She moaned and he found himself straining harder desperate to find his own attention. No matter, he would have his pleasure soon.

"Gods Severus, touch me…please…I need…I need…" She was not the first witch he'd heard babble like this, but she was the first he had no desire to silence as she called his name over and over. A chant, a prayer, it sounded like heaven on her lips as he drew his own- rather busy lips- from hers to her soft jaw. He found the column of her perfect neck and latched onto the skin there. Sucking and biting at the flesh for a moment before moving lower and doing the same to her collarbone.

His fingers found the edge of her knickers and he tugged them down, trapping her thighs together for a moment as he shifted to pull them from her hips and finally allowed her to kick them from the edge of the bed. "Oh please…" She cried, her head tossed to one side as he kissed at her slender shoulder.

He smirked into the flesh as his fingers played at the soft seem of her pussy. Merlin she was wet, and hot, and so ready for him he couldn't believe it was real. This beautiful woman wanted him and made it incredibly clear not only with her words.

"What do you want me to do Hermione?" He exhaled, his face dipping back to her breasts, his lips playing at the previously neglected pink nipple there.

"Touch me, gods fuck me. Take away this torturous burn…" Her voice was pleading and her eyes closed as she tossed her head from side to side.

He teased her entrance with the thumb she'd had in her mouth. All the while smirking at this fact as he stroked it across the taut nub of her clit. She moaned, cried out something unintelligible and he felt her body quiver beneath him.

Fuck, he'd driven her to orgasm with that single motion?

He smirked into the flesh of her breast and came back up on his knees. She was staring up at him, her cheeks flushed a pretty red and her eyes sparkling at him.

"Take me, please Severus, make me yours, be mine." Her voice was husky, her lips slightly parted and he knew he couldn't say no. What man could have? His, she would be his.

He would take her and make certain she never wanted another.

"Oh yes, sweet girl, I'm going to make you mine." Her skin broke gooseflesh at his deep, silken voice.


	19. Eighteen :: Gifts (2)

Hermione watched as the wizard she adored so much hooked his thumbs in the waist band of his sleeping trousers and gave her a long look. His deepest of blacks hair fell into his face and seemed to darken his intense eyes. She wet her lips as she watched him breathing evenly, on his knees between her parted legs.

"You are certain Hermione? How will it feel when you return to your own time?" He held her in his intense gaze and she shook her head.

"Not now, don't speak of it now. Please Severus." Her voice was small, almost pleading and onyx eyes flashed emotion.

"This is not just a fuck to me Hermione, you share my bed, I enjoy your company. This will change things, it will change _everything_." His thumbs worked the band as he edged his way back off of the bed. Soon he was standing staring down at her and she squirmed atop the mattress. She was baring all for him, not just her body but all of her.

"I will love you forever, I _have_ loved you forever." Cinnamon eyes stared straight into onyx and he gave a soft nod. "Come to me, Severus, be with me." She opened her arms, calling to him. His own personal siren's song.

"As you wish, my sweet." He removed the sleeping bottoms in one smooth motion and knelt at the foot of the bed. His desire for her was obvious, his large organ was swollen and red tipped, dripping a fair amount of pre-come as he stared down at her from his position between her legs.

Leaning forward he rested his hands on either side of her body and crawled forward his hair trailing her thighs and hips before skimming her breasts. He came up to rest just above her, face to face and she could feel his swollen tip graze her wet slit. She wiggled her hips, shifting herself so that tip found its place just at her entrance. Severus startled her with a growl as he dipped to press his lips to hers harshly, his mouth dominating her own as he parted her lips and pressed his tongue against hers.

The kiss was intense, passionate and harsh as he pressed down against her and she moaned into his mouth. When he pulled away she licked at his lips and he sat up on his knees between her thighs, careful not to break the contact his throbbing member had found with her core. She stretched her arms up and grazed his chest with her fingertips and nails. She drew them down his abdomen and he groaned while his hips rocked him forward just the slightest bit.

It was enough to stretch her entrance around him and she hissed softly in discomfort as she stared up at him. He rocked forward again, inching his way into her grasping channel and groaning at the tight warmth that slowly surrounded him. Hermione whined and moaned. Her body searching toward him as finally pressed himself into her entirely, his pelvis flush with her. She squeezed experimentally and he moaned, his eyes closed. The witch admired him, muscles taut with the desire to move within her, holding himself still as she adjusted to his all consuming penetration.

She rolled her hips and felt the tip of his impressive endowment press against her cervix. She groaned and tightened her knees on either side of his hips. "Move," she moaned her own eyes pinched closed, "please gods move."

Severus obliged, pulling back slowly from her tight warmth, feeling every inch of her grasping at him before plunging forward more quickly this time. She squeaked, her eyes snapping open to find him smirking down at her.

"Are you ready now, my sweet?" He pressed the tips of his fingers to the dip of her collarbone and trailed his fingers down her center. Between her breasts before his hands came up to grasp her calves. She nodded, her lip trapped between her teeth and his face set in a sort of determination. He urged her legs up, until her ankles were settled on his shoulders and then leaned forward. His hands on either side of her shoulders as he thrust forward. His sac pressed against her bum and she moaned, her head falling back to the pillow beneath her. "You'll take it all, won't you love?"

His voice was a seductive purr and she cried her agreement as he began to thrust in earnest. His entire body seemed to slam into hers as he drove himself forward over and over, pulling back slowly and enjoying the sleek velvet of her core before driving home and brushing her cervix.

Coming up onto his knees again, her ankles still on his shoulders he slipped a hand between them and began to play at the sensitive nub of her clit. His motions grew faster, harder, more erratic as she cried out his name and begged him to keep going.

"Almost…Oh gods…" Her voice was pleading as she arched her back and her body opened to receive him over and over again. "I love you, gods Severus…" Came a deep moan as her body seized and drew up harshly. Her thighs vibrated against him, the muscles spasming as her walls clenched and squeezed and pulled at his thrusting cock.

"Yes, oh yes Hermione…" He groaned, falling back onto his hands and rolling his hips erratically. Her orgasm crushed and squeezed at him and sooner than he might have liked he found himself rushing forward in his own moment of bliss. Hot, life giving seed spilled from him and into her waiting core, receiving him openly. The witch groaned when he fell atop her and wrapped his arms around her, groaning at the slight shiver in his own legs as he rolled and pulled her into his chest.

He stroked damp hair back from her face and sighed to himself. His chest heaving and slick with his exertion as he dipped to press a kiss to the top of her head. "Yes, you are very much mine now, my sweet."

Her face pulled back, cinnamon eyes glowing as she stared up at him from her place on his chest. "I hope that you are mine as well." He couldn't fight his desire to press forward and kiss her pouting lips. He smirked when he pulled back and she was giving him a dreamy smile.

"Never doubt it, my sweet." He kissed the top of her head again and she settled against his chest. Their sweat mingling and the scent of sex in the air. The most perfect Christmas Severus Snape could recall ever experiencing.

SSHG

After showering and dressing appropriately the couple found their way to the Great Hall, the entire student body had been reduced to only a few staying for the holidays and so they had condensed the tables to a lone long table in the center of the room.

Severus found he could not keep his hands away from his sweet little witch and so he pressed his fingers into the small of her back as she sat before he joined her on the bench. They ate slowly, ignoring those left around them.

He loved the way she pressed her side against his and the way she let her hand rest on his knee. He enjoyed the soft scent of vanilla that wafted from her and the tickle of her wild hair when it managed to brush the skin of the back of his hand or cheek.

"I have a present for you." She startled him from his thoughts by speaking softly and he turned dark eyes to the side of her head. Her cheeks were lightly flushed and she was fidgeting with something in the pocket of her robes. "It isn't much, and it's nothing compared to what you've given me today but I wanted- well I wanted you to know that you are important to someone today." She didn't look at him even as he stared at the side of her head and he furrowed his brow.

Trembling little fingers produced a small black box and he wrapped his hand around hers. Her eyes focused on their joined hands as he easily used his free hand to pluck the box from her fingers and watched as she wet her lips.

"Hermione, you gave me everything I could have wanted this morning." His mouth moved through her hair to find her ear and he kissed softly at its shell. "I will treasure anything you give me, no matter how small." He pressed his lips to her one last time, an attempt to give comfort and she turned her eyes to his, giving him a brilliant smile.

"Open it before you go saying things like that." He smirked and shook his head with a light chuckle before turning the small box in his fingers a few times. It was small and light, covered in a sort of velvet and felt strangely warm in his fingers.

Inside on a silver silk sat a pair of cufflinks. Silver snakes with black stones set in their bodies and emerald eyes. He looked from the gift to Hermione and then back again.

"How can you say this isn't much?" He looked up at her again and she was glowing a faint red, blushing prettily.

"They aren't anything very fancy, and I had wanted to buy you something for your potions work but not being familiar with which shops are the best in this time I thought it best to get you something you could use but I couldn't screw up…" She glanced off to the side. He closed the box and sat it delicately in front of his plate. Catching her cheek with his fingers he turned her back to face him and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"Hermione, you have to know that these mean so much more to me than you seem to think. Yes, I enjoy functional gifts and think potions equipment would have been a very safe choice. Still, equipment will come and go, these I can wear every day and think of you. These I will be able to hold on to as treasures you have given me for the rest of my life. Does that seem like nothing much to you?" He was pleased when the corner of her lips twitched up in a soft smile.

"No I don't suppose it seems like nothing much at all." He nodded, black hair swayed around his face.

"Now, come back to the dungeons with me, I believe I need to show you my absolute gratitude." He smirked at the new blush on her face and tugged her up by her hand. Certain to grab his gift and pocket it he pulled her behind him all the way to his rooms.

He regretted not purchasing her anything now, despite himself, and promised himself he would be certain to make it up to her.


	20. Nineteen :: Don't Go

Hermione stared at Severus across the room from her as he buttoned the black frockcoat his friend Lucius had given to him for Christmas. There was still another week before students would return from Hols and he was being summoned to meet with his 'friends'. Her stomach churned at the idea and she could feel tears prick at her eyes as she considered exactly what it was he was doing.

"Can't you stay?" Her voice was small and sounded pathetic to her own ears but she could tell he heard her as his eyes flicked to her. He wore the cufflinks she had given to him for Christmas and it would have made her smile if he were wearing them anywhere else.

"Hermione, you know if I want this I need to go when I am summoned." He repeated the same words he had said to her again and again since he had received the owl the night before. She reacted the same way she had before.

"Why do you want this though?" Her eyes flicked down the incredibly tall length of him and she sighed, adding something she'd not said yet. "You can't possibly aspire to be a murderer."

Obsidian eyes locked on hers, his hair a curtain around his face as he stared her down.

"You are saying that I will kill, but who, who will I _murder_ , Hermione, I should think only those who deserve it." He bit out and her lips pulled into a thin line. She drew herself up onto her knees to give her at least a semblance of equality with him and squared her shoulders.

"Like James Potter, or Sirius Black? What about Remus Lupin? Them, you think they deserve death for being school bullies?" She had cocked an eyebrow and he sneered back at her, looking every bit the professor she had known in the future.

"Don't they?" His voice was a low snarl and she shook her head, falling back so her bum rested on her heels.

"Me? Do I deserve death Severus?" She was staring down at her hands resting in her lap now. She could not look at him, she felt such contempt for the man when their conversations went in this direction. Being cruel to him was wrong, that she could certainly admit. Killing them though- killing them for being bullies seemed to be the exact opposite of the right thing to her.

"Why would you ask me such a question?!" He roared, his typically soft spoken nature forgotten and her eyes shot up to lock onto his. Her shoulders were so tense they ached.

"Because that's what they want, Severus, they want me and everyone like me dead or in shackles." Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips as he stared at her evenly. She wanted to shake him, to make him understand what it was he was pursuing. Instead she sat locked in a staring contest with him and willing him mentally to understand what she was trying to tell him.

"I would never hurt someone because of their blood." He huffed and straightened his collar. Hermione wove her fingers together in front of her.

"You think you won't, what choice will you have when it is your life or theirs? You must show him your loyalty and he will expect you to perform such atrocities to serve him! Do you think you will simply brew your way into the inner circle!? No! He wants blood, muggleborn blood, my blood! He wants to spill it and then he wants to make it so that people like you never come to be!" Her shoulders relaxed and her voice changed. "It's a pity you are of a lower birth than his usual followers, Severus, he won't torture them as he will you, their blood is too precious."

He was looking away from her now. His hair fell in his face and blocked her view of him but she could see his chest heaving with the effort not to lash out at her.

"You don't understand anything. You're just a stupid little girl." He bit out, his tone low and bitter. Hermione could not help the way she bristled.

"Am I? Then perhaps when it is my blood on your hands you will feel nothing." She stood from the bed, her feet planted hard on the floor. Her mind was spinning and her body ached. "I hope you feel nothing Severus. I hope you don't mourn the innocents you kill in your pursuit of revenge, of power."

Her feet carried her to the door and she felt as if she were dreaming when she turned to look at him. His eyes were locked on her, narrowed and fierce.

"I love you, but I won't watch you destroy yourself." She tugged the door open and left. The 'thud' of it closing feeling like the first nail in his coffin to her.

SSHG

Severus stared at his door for a long moment. Long slender fingers played at the cufflinks he had hooked into the pristine white shirt he had been gifted with his new frockcoat. She was gone, she had truly just walked out on him and his heart lurched in his chest.

Casting a tempus, he saw it was well past time he should be leaving and he groaned to himself. If he left it like this she may never speak to him again. Would she be another Lily? Lost to him because of his stubborn want to be _more_?

No, she was more than Lily. She was his, she was his lover. She held his heart in her soft little hands and it felt as though she was squeezing it now. He was aware that blood status was important to the Dark Lord but was what she said true? Would he really be out for blood?

He thought back to their few meetings, the way he had pitied Severus for his blood status. It was very believable that he would be the whipping boy for his half-blood status. He furrowed his brow and pulled his cloak over his shoulders. He would speak with Lucius; the slightly elder man had been his friend for enough years. Severus trusted him, he knew he would not be pulling him into this if he were aware of the possible outcome.

Striding from his room and down the hall, through the common room he glanced back to the girl's dorms and wondered if that was where Hermione had fled to. He shoved down his desire to check on her and breezed from the room. His cloak billowed behind him as he made his way to the paths that lead out of the dungeons and Hogwarts to the place where he would join Lucius.

SSHG

Hermione waited until she was certain Severus would have gone before making her way from her room and out of the dungeons. She hoped she would not be interrupting the headmaster when she gave his password to the gargoyle that guarded the steps to his office. "Lemon Sorbet."

"Come in." She heard when she knocked and she slipped into the room, her eyes wide on the wise man behind his desk. She shrugged to loosen her shoulders and fell into one of the chairs across from him. He looked over half-moon spectacles at her and smiled.

"To what do I owe the honor, Miss Granger?"

"I was hoping you'd found some information on my situation." She fidgeted for a moment and his eyes sparkled.

"Ah yes, indeed I've found a book that should prove to be most useful." Her fingers twitched, books were her favorite means of gathering information after all.

"And have you found anything in it?"

"Unfortunately, I have not had the time to read through it, if you swear I can trust you with it I will gladly hand it over to you and you may look for the answers you seek." He began to dig through his desk, the drawer obviously extended as he nearly crawled all the way in before he came out grasping a thick, loose bound book.

It was bound with a leather like thread and looked to be several centuries old.

"Oh my!" Her excitement lit her face as she stared over the ancient tome.

His eyes sparkled with his smile. "Yes, I thought you may be able to appreciate the special nature of this book."

He set the book delicately on the desk and she leaned forward to run her fingers over the soft, worn parchment. The words were still bright as they day they had been written and she assumed there was some type of preservation charm on it.

"Do you think it will have the information we need?" She looked hopeful and Dumbledore gave a solemn nod. He knew the young witch had not come to him yet because she must be torn, torn on what to do, whether to go back or stay.

He had a nagging suspicion it had to do with a certain Slytherin boy who she spent most of her time either with or staring at.

He wondered if the Snape boy had realized how much sway he had over her?

Probably not, teenaged boys were almost always completely daft.

"Well then, if that is all you needed I have much work to do and you have much reading to do." He smiled and she knew she was essentially dismissed. She scooped up the book gently and carried it with both hands as she left.

"Thank you, Professor." She gave him a wide smile as she slipped from the room.

Hermione made a bee-line for the common room and as soon as she was settled into a plush emerald chair she dove straight into the delicately bound book, careful not to pull too hard on its pages.


	21. Twenty :: Pain

Hermione was laying on her stomach atop a blush green rug in front of a fire when Severus returned. She had not managed to pry herself away from her book the entire time he was gone. He paused in the entry and she could feel him staring down at her as she glanced up from the pages of her book.

The curly haired brunette said nothing to him as she gazed up at him and instead pursed her lips and turned back to the tome. She flipped the page and pretended to read as he stared down at her.

"Honestly, you aren't going to speak to me."

"I have nothing to say." Her response was melodic and calm despite the storm raging inside her and she was proud of herself.

"What are you reading?" He shifted. She knew he wanted to say more but she was not going to make this conversation easy for him. He was the one who would not listen to her even knowing she knew what would happen in the future. He was the one who had called her a stupid little girl, he was the one who had hurt her on numerous occasions.

She loved him, she only wanted for him to be happy and healthy and he all but spat in her face.

"Dumbledore found this book, he said it may hold information pertinent to my situation." Severus paused. Did that mean she was looking for a way to return to her time? His entire body stiffened.

She was going to leave him?

"You can't…You can't leave me." The force in his voice surprised even himself as he stared down at her. Hermione sat up, pulling her legs beneath her and staring up at him with her head cocked.

"Isn't that what you want though Severus?" Her own voice was harsh, almost feral. He could hear the pain in her tone through the rage however and he kept his narrowed eyes on her face. "No? That is not it, is it? You want me to stay and warm your bed, to tell you I love you and make you feel like there is someone here for you while you go and make the biggest mistake of your life." She stood, her shoulders squared.

Her chest heaved with painful breaths as she continued to stare up at him. Her cinnamon eyes cold as ice as she regarded him. She could feel the painful prickle of incipient tears but clenched her fists and carried on.

"I'm not here for you to take advantage of damnit! You! You cannot listen to me, you cannot understand what I am trying to tell you! Well, let me make it perfectly clear for you!" She chewed her lip as she stared up at him, her face was flushed with her irritation. "I am Hermione Granger, in the time I come from you, Severus Snape, are a double agent working for Albus Dumbledore. In the correct span of time you join Voldemort, in your eagerness to find your way into his inner circle you overhear a prophecy and run to tell him. It is about Lily, and James, and their son Harry. You beg for her life because you love her but she protects Harry with her love and she DIES, Severus, she DIES." Hermione sucked a deep breath and stared up at him, backing away a few steps toward the girls' dorms.

"When she dies you pledge your servitude to Dumbledore, you become a Professor of Potions at this school after his first defeat. When I join the school with Harry at nearly twelve years old we begin the battle against his return." Her head was hanging now, her arms limp at her sides. "We fight him until he fully returns our fifth year, in sixth year you are forced to kill Dumbledore and take over the school, your only friend and a man who was like a father to you. You kill him to solidify yourself as valuable to Voldemort. Harry and I nearly die on more than one occasion. I am tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange in Malfoy Manor and given the mark I showed you so long ago."

Severus was staring at her with wide obsidian eyes when she chanced a look back up at him, she took another step back.

"Would you like a list of the casualties of the war you plan to play both sides of?" She was trembling now and her voice shook. She shook her head 'no' and gave him a last longing look. "No, you have enough to think about now. You do not love me Snape, and that is fine, I never expected you would. I still will not watch you ruin your life, and you cannot make me stay and be your bed warmer. I won't be used like that."

Hermione turned and ran her heart pounding in her chest as she rounded into her room and collapsed to the floor. As an afterthought, she accio'd the book Dumbledore had given her and held it clutched to her chest. Her eyes closed to the onslaught of tears that fought their way through clenched lids and down her cheeks.

SSHG

Severus stared at the place where she had stood, his mind attempting to wrap around her words as he remained planted in the empty common room. His heart thudded hard in his chest as onyx eyes traced the path to her dorm. She thought he was using her as a bed warmer?

Had he truly not managed to express to her how much she meant to him? He thought back over the entire course of their knowing one another. He had never once asked her to be his exclusively, he had never returned her sentiment of love. Did he love her?

The way his heart ached he was almost certain he did. Did he still love Lily?

She was but an afterthought to him now that Hermione dominated his thoughts. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles ached as he continued to trace her path. Would he really kill innocents? Would he truly put Lily in the line of fire like that? Was he so desperate for the power?

Yes, yes he was. The dark arts had stolen away his relationship with Lily, and now the Dark Lord would steal away his relationship with Hermione if he carried on. She would leave him, return to her time and move on with her life.  
Would she be with another man?

His stomach clenched and his heart cried out in his chest. No! She was his, his witch! She could not take another lover. She could not be with another.

He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. Walking to a chair near the fire he settled into it and stretched his long legs out in front of him. She had to leave the girls' dorms eventually and when she did he would intercept her. He would make this right.

If he must he would turn his back on the Dark Lord. He would talk to Lucius about this girl from the future and attempt to convince Hermione to tell the blonde what she knew.


	22. Twenty-One :: Soulmate

Severus started awake and opened black eyes to examine the room around him. The fire had died in the fireplace and his back ached from his stretched position in his chair. The poor lighting made it difficult for him to determine what exactly had awoken him until his eyes finally settled on the slight figure leaning against the wall across from him.

Her arms were crossed across her chest and her wild hair was pulled up high on top of her head in a bun that flopped to the side. It would have been comical if she had not been staring at him with flat cinnamon eyes.

"Did you find something?" His voice cracked and he watched her chest rise and fall on a deep breath. She shook her head softly.

"Did you sleep here last night?" He nodded softly, sitting up further in the chair and looking her over.

"Not nearly so terrible as the idea that you've not slept at all." She shifted on her feet and he pulled himself to lean forward. His elbows propped on his knees as he stared at her from beneath his curtain of black hair.

"Do you really care?" She sounded vulnerable and he hated himself for making her feel that way. He hated himself for making her think she was simply a plaything to him.

"More than you could possibly know, Hermione." His lanky form stretched up from the chair and he stood. His eyes never left her slight figure across the room as he eased his way toward her. He could see her press her spine against the wall and give him a look. Her eyes flashed a mixture of longing and hesitance that made his guilt crawl all the way up his throat. "Hermione," a hand came out to cup her cheek.

"I won't be your bed warmer Severus." She whispered and he brought his front flush with hers. His neck craned down so he could look into her face. She worried her lip and he dipped to release with his own. Soft suction pulling the lip and a small gasp free.

"I don't want you to be a bed warmer Hermione. I want you to be with me. My equal. You're my lover, my friend, I want you with me always." His hands were resting on her hips as he spoke and she eyed him carefully.

"I know why I'm here, Severus."

His heart stuttered in his chest and he cocked an eyebrow at the petite witch who reached up to grasp his coat.

"Do tell," he tried not to throw up those walls he often employed to protect himself he knew they would serve no purpose but to push her away.

She dropped a hand to catch his fingers with hers and pushed against him. Easing them away from the wall she accio'd the thick, old tome to her and he watched as she held it reverently.

"It's all in here." She handed the book over and flicked the little flag she had marked a page with the tip of her finger. They settled into one of the many sofas that littered the room and Hermione curled up at his side. He drew her closer with an arm around her shoulders and nudged her into turning the pages for him.

At least this way she would not be able to run away from him if she thought to.

"That old bastard." He muttered after a few minutes of reading and he felt the witch beside him tense.

"You've found it then?" She tilted her head and he shook his. His eyes glittered with something that was akin to humor and anger all at the same time.

"He's known all this time, hasn't he?" Severus questioned, Hermione groaned and rubbed her forehead. This time her eyes narrowed on the passage in the book along with his. He had not expected someone to know exactly what was going on between them.

Even Dumbledore.

"I couldn't believe it, the first time. I had to read it three or four." She gave a wry laugh as her eyes landed on his face. His fingers soothed across her upper arm.

" _In the darkest hour of a soulmate's loss there is the potential for very powerful magic to take place. This happens rarely and cannot be called upon at will. The soul-bond must be pure, the heart of the one in grief must be earnest. The mourner may be cast back in time, to the earliest stage of the life of their soul-mate, when they have just begun to walk their path of destruction, in order to stop this path of destruction. There is only one chance given. If the mate succeeds and the course of time is altered they cease to…_ " He trailed off and glanced at her, as if looking for confirmation that he was reading the right words.

"Basically, it goes on to say that the soulmate transferred back in time becomes a whole new person in the present, the persona they leave behind stays, gains a new soul-mate and the cycle ends there. If they fail and lose the witch or wizard or do not take them off the path of destruction they will die and everything will play out just as it had if they had never gone back to begin with." She shook her head.

"So, you are Hermione Granger, but you aren't the one you were?" He blinked a few times. His mind had wrapped around the concept sure, but it still seemed incredibly odd.

"No, I'm the one I was. The one that is there now is exactly like me but not, she has a different soul mate, probably the same Patronus I'd had, the fox makes sense now." She blinked a few times.  
"I have a few bets on who her soulmate is too." She smirked, thinking of the way Ron had looked at her all throughout the war.

He stared at the book for a few more minutes and his eyebrows pinched together.

"It says here that despite the soulmate straying from their original path someone else will fall onto that path. The course of history cannot be changed completely, only altered." He massaged the bridge of his nose with the hand that had been holding the book and grunted.

"Yes, so unfortunately if I succeed some other poor person will walk my soulmate's path, and while I feel bad for them, I cannot deny my relief." She stared down at her hands. He glanced toward her. She was tucked so perfectly into his side. His heart clenched in his chest and his eyes narrowed.

He did not want to ask the question. He felt like he had to.

He was probably the one who ended up walking her soulmate's path.

"Who is he then? You must know if you were mourning him." His voice was low and chased shivers up and down her spine. Her eyes shot up to meet his and she wet her lips again.

"I know who he is. Before today I might have thought he would be unhappy." She shook her head and glanced at the book in his lap. "Are you sure you want me to stay with you always?" She wet her lips, his eyes narrowed on her. She could not choose him over her soulmate. That would not be fair to either of them.

Hermione worried her lip again, her mind completely consumed by her thoughts.

 _She needed to tell him._

 _If she did not she could fail._

 _She could not risk it. She had a chance._

 _A second chance._

 _She was going to take it!_

"I meant what I said, but I won't let you throw away something so special on a waste like me." Her building tears tickled her throat but she refused to let them fall.

"It's you, dunderhead!" She crossed her arms and looked away. He inhaled a sharp breath but did not breathe beyond that. Instead he only watched her with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not a fool Hermione, I know it must be someone else." His voice was the lowest, most annoyed she had ever heard it. She glanced up at him and he was trapped in that cinnamon gaze again.

"Then you are exactly that, Severus Snape. Because it _is you_." She hissed and struggled up from his grip to storm away from him. He did not give her the chance to escape, for once he was not going to ruin things. He was going to seize the moment.

Screw his Slytherin sensibilities. If this witch was meant for him then he would have her.

Every soft, sweet, delicate, kind, compassionate inch of her.

"Don't walk away from me." He growled, the book forgotten on the sofa behind him as he grasped her arm and pulled her up against him. Her body smashed into his with a force that made his need grow and he barely restrained himself.

After this he would take her to his bed and keep her there until the end of Christmas Break.

"You don't believe me; therefore, I see no reason to stay." She narrowed her eyes on him. He had hurt her, he could see it plain on her face and it made him feel guilty. Something he had felt only a handful of times and always when she was involved. He really was a bastard, when one got down to it.

He was not sure exactly how he had ended up with a witch like this one as a soulmate, if it was true.

The tingles she shot through him every time he touched her certainly seemed a good enough sign it may be true.

"Say I believe you. This path, I must deny it? Deny the power offered?" She sucked a breath he was so close, she heard the clatter of a student, or a house-elf somewhere near them but could not break his gaze. He however apparently could as his head whipped to the source. "Leave, now." His commanding tone recalled the powerful professor she had seen so often in her years at Hogwarts.

One of the few other Slytherins to have stayed behind froze in his spot, wide eyes on the couple as Severus stared him down. The boy stuttered an apology and took off running in the opposite direction. Hermione shook her head.

"You're already powerful." His only answer was a grunt and she narrowed her eyes. Stubborn man, "You are, you just sent that boy running, scared out of his wits." She could not help her little laugh and she did not miss the smirk that forced its way onto his face.

"I will not stop my research of dark magic, Hermione."

"I don't expect you to. All I ask is that when the time comes, you say no to Voldemort." He hissed a breath.

"You speak of him so casually." Hermione nodded and clutched his shoulders in tense fingers.

"I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid of what he will do to you." Severus nodded slowly and wrapped his arms more tightly around her. She sighed into the wool of his coat and held her body as close to his as she possibly could.

"Let me take you to sleep, we can speak of this more in the morning." Hermione nodded and gave a soft sigh when she was swept up into his arms. She hooked her own around his neck and lay her head against his shoulder. "You have to stop running away when you get upset, it is good for neither of us."

"I'll consider it."

"Cheeky." He huffed as the door to his room shut behind them.


	23. Twenty-Two :: Decisions Made

Hermione woke to the feeling of delicate kisses being pressed to the back of her neck. She groaned, she was warm and she had no desire to move from her place in Severus' arms, or his bed. A warm chuckle vibrated through his chest as his breath stirred small wispy curls that had escaped the braid he'd shifted to the side to kiss her neck.

"Good morning, my sweet." He breathed into her ear and she shuddered at the sensation before rolling in his arms. His hair was tousled and messy from sleep and his dark, dark eyes sparkled as he stared down at her.

It was all amazing to her, the day before had really happened? They had discovered she could stay, that she could be with him for the rest of their lives? It was a momentous thing, something that made her heart soar and her soul sing out its joy. She grasped his face in her hands, her small fingers pressed into his cheeks as she brought her lips to his in a joyful kiss.

"I'm really here, it's all real isn't it?" She could hear the awe in her own voice but it did not matter. She was there, with Severus. Her Severus, and they could be together and he was not going to join Voldemort. It was all she could have ever dreamt of.

"I suppose this could be a case of mass hysteria or delusions but I rather think it is just real." He smirked as he brought his lips to hers once more, kissing her softly. He let his hands wander her hip and side as she wound her fingers into his hair and he heaved a sigh.

"What is it?" She pulled back to look up at him. His lips pulled into a thin line and he took a deep breath.

"I will need to go and inform Lucius of my choice. I can only hope it does not destroy our friendship as it stands. He has been a dear friend of mine for many years." He dipped his head to nuzzle his nose against her neck. His warm lips found her skin and pressed small kisses, drawing little whimpers and shallow breaths from her.

"If he is truly your friend he won't end his association with you over this. Just because you do not stand with him does not mean you must stand against him." Severus pulled back to look her in the face, his eyes narrowed.

"But you will stand against him, will you not? You will fight for your kind and you will not allow me to stop you, will you?" He spoke it as if a question that he already knew the answer to and she worried her lip for a second with a soft nod.

"I will, you know I will, but I don't expect you to do so just for me."

"Foolish witch," he brushed a few stray curls from her face and cupped her cheek affectionately with a warm hand. "I could never, would never do anything that would bring you harm. I will fight to my last breath to be certain you are safe. If they come for you- they come for me."

Hermione moved then, flinging herself harder against him and pressing her lips to his. Her kiss was passionate, her breaths long and deep as she worked her lips against his. It was with a growl that he flipped her onto her back and hovered over her. His tongue pressed to the seam of her lips and eased them apart so that he could explore the cavern of her mouth while his slender body found its way between her thighs.

Hermione could only moan and hold onto him as he ground against her for a few agonizing minutes. Soon his fingers were finding the edge of her shorts and she was divested of all clothing from the waist down. Her own cool fingers pressed down the waist of his pants and allowed his throbbing member to spring free. She moaned when he pressed against her and wrapped her legs around his slender waist.

"Gods yes…" She threw her head back when he drove himself into her tight warmth. His jaw clenched as he dipped to catch her in a desperate kiss. The fingers of the hand that did not support his weight came up to flick and flit about her breasts and nipples and she moaned beneath him.

Hermione keened when Severus twisted his hips just so and a dark smirk painted itself across his face at the sound. "Like that, do you?" He husked as his pale, lean body worked over hers and she cried out.

He did it again and her eyes rolled back in her head, drawing a hiss of satisfaction from him when her walls clenched around him. She was so close, so close.

"Oh! Oh! There, just there…." She shuddered out in her desperation and he bent to kiss her again, his body bowed overtop hers as he rotated his hips and drove himself as deeply into her desperate core as he could. She cried out, her body bucked beneath him and her walls clenched him so tightly he swore she would never let him go. He came with a hoarse cry of her name and fell to lay atop her still spasming body.

Hermione brought her fingers up to caress his back gently as he lay atop her breathing heavily and when he pulled back she gave him a bright smile.

"Do you feel more able to face Lucius now?" She smiled coyly, earning a smirk in return.

"With you standing behind me, I can do anything." Hermione swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry at the thought that occurred to her.

"Would you like for me to come with you?" Had her voice squeaked? She was almost certain it had.

"Not if you are afraid." He caressed her cheek and there was none of his usual cold snark or teasing in the words. She turned her face to kiss his hand and gave a soft nod.

"The Manor is where I was tortured by Bellatrix, I- I can go if it will make you feel better though?" She gave him a sideways glance. His nostrils flared. Had she not told him who had given her her scars?

Based on the dark look on his face she was going to assume she hadn't.

"Severus, don't do anything extreme."

"You mean do not slaughter her and ensure she is never able to harm a hair on your beautiful head, even if it is a different you?" He cocked an eyebrow. His tone was cold, dangerous and she recognized that darkness inside him. The darkness that made up one of the many sides of the man that she had fallen irrevocably in love with.

"Yes, I mean do not slaughter her. Please Severus, I need you with me, not in Azkaban for killing a witch who is as yet not entirely mad." She pressed a kiss to his shoulder as she rolled away from him and sat up. He grunted his assent and sat up himself. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he kicked away his pants and gave the side of her head a long look.

He was so intense always, and forever.

He came to stand behind her and she paused in pulling her top over her head, her body stilling as his warmth crashed into her back. "I adore you, Hermione." He helped pull the top the rest of the way down her torso. Long, slender, spidery fingers played across her covered skin and she swore they blazed a path of fire as if she had never pulled the fabric on.

"The feeling is mutual." She leant back into his bare chest and let her head rest on the space just beneath his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her from behind and he pressed closer with a groan.

"Do you dislike Lucius?" He nearly whispered into her hair and she shook her head, her eyes pinching closed. Could she change Lucius' path as well? Could she encourage Severus to try to lead him in the right direction.

"I dislike him, but I do not hate him. I know that the Lucius that is your friend now is not the one who hurt my friends." She breathed deeply and he tightened his hold on her, his body still flush against her back.

"It is not his fault, his father filled him full of the hate speech and disregard for those below him. He can be a good man." Severus spoke into her hair again and she nodded softly. She brought her arm up to hook her hand around behind her and bury her fingers in his slick black hair.

"I know, I know it is handed down from father to son. I know he will make his son feel the same way. I want you to have your friend, Severus. Please, if you can stop him from picking a side that will be enough. If he will only _not_ take the mark, if he has not already. That is enough to save him I think." She removed her hand from his hair to bring it forward and grasp one of those he held around her waist. She brought his knuckles to her lips and kissed them gently before settling his hand back atop the other.

"He hasn't, his wife hesitates." Severus kissed at the juncture of her shoulder and neck and she nodded softly.

"She's a smart woman. I will try to make friends of them, if you can convince them to remain neutral." Severus nodded against her neck this time and spun her in his arms. His half hard erection pressed into her lower stomach as she stared up at him. Mouth open slightly.

"Thank you for not expecting them to choose your side. For accepting them if they will only remain neutral." She brought her hand up to caress his cheek and he closed his eyes for a short moment.

"I love you Severus."

"My sweet love." He kissed her lips gently before pulling back and away from her. "I need to go speak with Lucius now. Sooner is always preferable to later."

"When were you expected to take the mark?" She asked as he walked around the bed to his trunk and began to pull his clothing free. He paused to look up at her and heaved a deep breath. She knew these were things he was not accustomed to sharing and she was so grateful he was willing to try.

"The day I leave Hogwarts was meant to be the day I took the mark." He cleared his throat and stepped through the doorway to the small washroom. Each Slytherin dorm room housed its own small washroom, something that had initially blown Hermione's mind. Gryffindor had been expected to use a public facility, one for the boys and one for the girls.

She heard the rush of running water and finished fastening her muggle jeans before settling on the edge of the bed. She released her hair slowly from its braid until it flowed all around her and sighed to herself at the loss of pressure on top of her head. Her eyes flicked to the washroom door just as Severus was exiting in a crisp pair of black trousers. His wet hair clung to his face and neck and she worried her bottom lip.

"Be careful." He nodded, giving her a long look.

"I haven't anything to fear from Lucius. I assure you I will return to you unscathed by the end of day." She nodded and ran her fingers through loose curls.

"I suppose I'll return my book to Dumbledore and find a way to occupy myself then." She gave a faint smile that seemed to spur him into walking up to her. He'd just finished donning his white shirt and hadn't done up the buttons yet as he came to stand in front of her.

"I'm not going anywhere Hermione." He grasped her chin in his fingers and tipped her head back to look up at him. He looked exquisite undone as he was and she wanted to grab him and keep him there with her. "I promise, my sweet, I will be back before you realize I was gone. You worry far too much." He dipped to kiss her gently and she heaved a breath.

"I remember what it felt like for you to die, I don't ever want to relive that." He paused, his shoulders tense and gave a soft nod as he took a step back from her.

"I promise you, we will both go as an old couple, on the same day, at the same time. We will simply go to bed at one-hundred and seventy-five and find ourselves departed from the world together, as one." Hermione laughed and shook her head at him, a smile playing across her lips.

"Thank you." He kissed her again, his eyes much softer now.


	24. Twenty-Three :: Echoes

Hermione cried out, shooting up in the bed and looking around desperately before she settled back into the sheets. Her chest heaved and her heart felt as though it would beat out of her chest as she shifted her gaze to the ceiling of Severus' room.

He hadn't returned yet and she had grown bored waiting for him. She'd chopped ingredients, checked the potions that he had brewing, and then read an entire book before she'd fallen asleep. Her eyes closed as she continued her attempt to slow her breathing. She worried about him, it was true.

It was hard not to when she'd already seen him die once, she'd watched him _die_.

She didn't think that was something she would ever get over, not completely at least.

Her eyes opened at a soft knock on the door but didn't move to answer it, the rap turned insistent and she sighed as she pulled herself from the warm bed to fling the door open.

A teen, a little younger than herself and Severus- if she had to guess- stood in the doorway. The image of Sirius floated through her mind for a moment before she gave him a bright smile. He was taller than her, which wasn't much of a feat, and his eyes were wide on his face.

"Um," he looked around, "I was looking for Severus?" He sounded dreadfully confused and she stifled a giggle as she observed him seriously.

"He isn't in, can I take a message?" She wanted to snort at the businesslike tone she was putting on but she simply couldn't help herself. She hadn't yet met Regulus Black and she was beyond excited. Severus talked on and on about the younger teen, his friend, this was a person he held in high esteem.

His eyes narrowed. "Wait, who are you?" His brow furrowed and she tossed thick curls over her shoulder.

"My name is Hermione, Severus had to go for a while, would you like to wait for him?" She cocked an eyebrow, he snorted.

"In a room, alone, with the girl he talks about all the time," she felt herself blush at this, "not likely."

"He talks about me all the time?" She detested the dreamy quality to her voice and a smirk touched his lips. He was as attractive as Sirius, if not more so. Though really, she preferred her men more brooding and less adorable.

"I do no such think." Severus strolled up behind the wizard in the doorway, "Nice of you to wait out here, come in." He cocked an eyebrow, Hermione stepped out of the way so they could both file in before closing the door behind them.

She squeaked in surprise when arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against a firm chest.

"Are we feeling territorial?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, leaning her head back to look up into his face, upside down. She imagined her eyebrow had little effect the way she was but it would have to do.

"Is it a crime to wish to hold my witch?" He cocked his own imperious eyebrow and she shook her head as he spun them to face Regulus. He looked uncomfortable by far. A sort of somber mood settled over the room and Hermione curled back into Severus' chest. He squeezed her softly before looking back up at their guest.

"I know you plan to join Voldemort this year, Reg." He spoke slowly, a familiar drawl to his tone that Hermione had noticed didn't appear so much in this time as it had in her own. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe evenly, making herself as unnoticeable as possible in the room. "I spoke with Lucius today, I will not take the mark." To the point, one of her favorite things about him.

Regulus watched them for a long minute, his eyebrows pulled tightly together before he gave a nod.

"You wish for Lucius and me to deny the mark as well, I presume?" A trim black eyebrow rose just as Hermione's eyes opened to lock on to him. She wanted to tell him of his pain, of what would happen in the future but instead she held her tongue.

Dumbledore had made it perfectly clear she was not to share the events of a person's death with them.

"Lucius is taking it into serious consideration. I have informed him of the future we are striving for, and I would like to describe it to you as well." Severus kept his tone even, Hermione enjoyed the rumble of his voice in his chest. "We should sit, this will take some time." He released her with one arm to motion to the chair before he led her to the bed.

When he sat he pulled her down into his arms and she curled in his lap, laying with her face against his chest. It was harder for her to see his friend this way, she wondered if it was purposeful. Regulus Black really was a beautiful young man, she hoped Severus didn't think she would ever find anyone other than him even remotely appealing however.

She filed it away to discuss with him later and tuned her ears back to the conversation.

"How do you know what the future will be like?" The question wasn't as sharp as she might have expected. Regulus was obviously as reasonable as Severus had made him out to be. She was almost certain Lucius had a fit when Severus told him. She couldn't wait to ask him about it.

"Reg, this is going to sound strange, but Hermione is from the future. A very sad future. She isn't trying to change it, but I am, I do not wish for my friends to die, or be incarcerated senselessly." Hermione closed her eyes again and took even breaths. They hadn't really discussed the possible repercussions of his actions. She imagined that if Lucius and Regulus chose not to join the Death Eaters someone else would simply take their places. At least, she hoped that was how it would go.

"I'm going to discuss this with Lucius find out his opinion, I will give it serious thought, Severus." He stood and gave them both a long look. Hermione observed him from beneath her hair.

"That is all I ask." His voice was solemn. She shifted herself off of Severus' lap so he could say his goodbyes and show Regulus to the door.

When the thick wood shut behind him he leaned against it, his black hair fell into his face and she stood to cross to him quickly.

"Are you okay, love?" She pushed the hair back from his face to see it was dark, twisted in a sort of sadness that she'd never seen on him before. "What's happened, what's wrong?"

"There is a lot, I feel as if I am losing everything I know all at once."

"Was Lucius really so resistant?" She stroked the side of his face with gentle fingers and he shook his head.

"No, in fact he was quite interested in what I had to say. He was also appalled at the idea of spending any amount of time in Azkaban. It's Regulus, he's so loyal to his pure-blooded family, and their ways. There is also the matter of Cassi, he's quite taken with her, it won't be in his best interest with her to change sides." Hermione cocked an eyebrow.

"Who? Who is she?"

"An incredibly complicated woman." He chuckled and shook his head. "No more of this somber talk. Tell me, how was your day?"

"Terrible without you." She chewed her lip for a moment and he reached up to free it from her teeth, giving her a curious look.

"What is troubling you, Hermione?" He cocked an eyebrow and she shook her head with a little.

"I was just curious; did you think I would be interested in Regulus?" He froze, his entire body going rigid and she wet her lips. She was figuring him out, slowly but surely.

"I-"

"Because you know that I love you, right? And I would never look at another man the way I look at you, no matter how attractive he may be to other women…They won't ever hold a candle to you, Severus." She could see the muscle in his jaw working and pulled up on her toes to press a kiss to the clenching muscle.

"Hermione- I, I know Lily is a sensitive topic, and I swear I no longer harbor any feelings for her- but, I was never enough for her." Hermione made a low noise that sounded disturbingly like a growl before she grasped wither side of his face with small hands.

"You listen to me, Severus Snape, she did not deserve you! You are a wonderful, loyal, kind man, and if she couldn't see that and value you for that then it was not meant to be." She stroked his cheeks with her hands as they fell away. "I love you, to me you're the most handsome man in the world, now, and in the future I came from."

When he still appeared hesitant she reached up and began undoing the buttons of his black coat. He cleared his throat. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to show you how attractive I find you." She pushed the coat from his shoulders and undid the buttons to his white shirt next, pulling it from his trousers. She pressed her lips to the pale skin in the opening of the shirt and dropped to her knees. Her teeth nipped at the skin of his lower stomach, just beneath his bellybutton. A trail of black hair tickled her nose as she drew her mouth across his abdomen and raised her hands to open his trousers and pull them down to the floor.

She grinned when his erection sprang free and looked up at him with need burning through her veins. His eyes were heavy lidded and entirely black as he stared down at her, on her knees in front of him. She suddenly found herself incredibly turned on and kissed the head of his cock, her tongue flicked out to gather a bead of precum and he groaned.

She watched him as her mouth latched to his tip and gave a hard suck, his head fell back and she knew his eyes closed. He began panting, groaning and growling, emitting some truly knicker wetting noises as she took him deep into her throat and sucked as hard as she could. Breathing through her nose she drew back and repeated the process.

When a hand buried itself in her wild hair she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be consumed with sensation.

"Sweet bloody Salazar Hermione." She would have smirked if her mouth hadn't been full of cock and she gave him a hard suck in response. He groaned and his hips rocked forward of their own will, she opened her throat to avoid choking and focused on denying her gag reflex as her mouth moved against him.

A small, warm hand came up to cup his testicles and he gave another sharp jerk beneath her. She could feel them, gathering, pulling up to his body and he grasped her hair tight.

"Oh gods, oh gods, Hermione, please, gods, please. Please let me cum in your mouth, please…" His pleading, his ragged tone, the way his hips bucked and his knees rocked shot pleasure straight to her core and she moaned around him.

The vibrations seemed to be his undoing as suddenly he was pouring his essence into her mouth. She took it, swallowing, the taste wasn't bad enough to warrant complaint and she decided she would definitely be doing this for him again. Especially if he would continue to react in such a manner.

When his flaccid member slipped from between her lips she pressed another soft kiss to the hanging organ and helped him to pull his trousers up as she rose to her feet. He didn't bother with the buttons or zip as he tugged her to him and kissed her fiercely, bending her back slightly in his ardor.

Hermione moaned against his lips and his tongue delved into her mouth, a deep growl burning through him and into her before he pulled back.

"Fuck, the taste of me on your lips is incredible." And then he was backing her toward the bed, kissing her hard as he shed his trousers. Her knees hit the mattress and she fell back into the soft bed.

His eyes were still consumed with black lust as he stared down at her, laying on the bed panting.

"Take them off, my sweet little witch." His voice was deep, the baritone one she was unfamiliar with and she stretched her shirt up over her head, leaning up to pull it away and toss it to the floor. Laying back down she shimmied out of her jeans under his watchful gaze. He made an appreciative sound in the back of his throat as she stared up at him. "All of them, Hermione." He exhaled and she shivered as she sat up once more to reach behind her and unhook her bra.

It fell from her shoulders and she tossed it aside to join her shirt. Laying back again she hooked her fingers in the waist of her knickers and held his eyes as she slipped them down and dropped them from her feet onto the floor in front of her.

"You are far too beautiful for the likes of me." He knelt at the foot of the bed and she sat up on her elbows to look at him.

"Haven't I proven that you are perfectly, irresistibly attractive to me?" She exhaled before squeaking when he grasped her thighs and tugged her down so that her knees were hooked over his shoulders. He turned his head and pressed his lips to her thigh.

She moaned softly and lay back, her eyes closing.

"I believe it is time I returned the favor." He spoke just before he buried his face between her thighs and brought her to her own bliss.


	25. Twenty-Four :: Lily

Hermione sat curled comfortably in a large plush chair in the library. She had just returned the ancient tome to Dumbledore, who had said little- yet spoken volumes with his sparkling blue eyes. She was more than accustomed to the way he operated and simply shook her head and skipped back down the stairs.

Now she was comfortably ensconced in a little corner of the library with a book in front of her and feeling more relaxed than she had in an age.

"May I sit here?" Hermione's eyes snapped up to find a pair of emerald green staring down at her. She tipped her head but shrugged and motioned to the chair just to her right. The auburn-haired witch settled in to the chair with a quiet breath and Hermione tried to pretend she wasn't there.

They sat like this, Hermione pretending to read and Lily straightening her skirt, smoothing it across her knees. The silence was heavy and uncomfortable.

"How is he?" The witch finally asked, and Hermione's shoulders sagged. This was what she'd been waiting for.

"I want to say that you don't care, that you threw him away." Lily opened her mouth to speak but Hermione silenced her with a hand held up. "But, I know you were friends for a very long time, he's good, I think he'll be okay now."

Lily nodded softly and cleared her throat.

"Have you had problems from the boys? Are they behaving themselves?" Hermione nodded softly.

"I honestly haven't thought even a moment about them." Hermione smiled softly, a smile that fell as soon as Severus rounded into their little nook and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hermione?" She held her breath, she knew that there were a million ways he could react. She could only hope that his reaction would not be incredibly negative.

"Severus." She chose to remain calm, smiling softly in his direction.

"I should go, thank you." Lily turned to Hermione and placed a hand on top of hers for a short moment before fleeing past Severus and out of the library. Hermione rolled her eyes, coward.

If she couldn't stand up to Severus she never would have been able to be with him, no matter how much the man wanted her.

"What was that?" His look was dark, she was treading on dangerous ground here. She knew she needed to answer his question, well and quickly.

"Well, I'm not certain what it appeared to be, but Lily," he didn't flinch at the name and it made her heart clench happily in her chest, "wanted to know how you were doing. She was also quite curious whether or not the Marauders have been bothering us lately."

He nodded slowly and moved to sit in the seat the other witch had just occupied.

"She didn't try to warn you away from me?" He was staring down at his hands, as if that had been his expectation. Hermione stood and came to kneel in front of him, her eyes searching his out and holding them.

"Severus, it wouldn't matter if she had, you are mine, you will be no matter what anyone says. No matter what you do, or how we grow I will love you. Please don't ever doubt that. Don't ever doubt me."

"I don't."

"Good." Hermione answered before leaning over to press a soft kiss to the wizard's cheek.

SSHG

"Severus, I wanted to talk to you..." His attention was caught by a soft voice and he turned his gaze to the redheaded girl- young woman- who had once been his best friend. His everything.

"Are you certain that is wise, Lily? I would be remiss to invoke the wrath of Potter." He sneered in her direction. The wounds she'd given him were still raw, he still hurt with the sting of her ultimate rejection. Hermione had told him moving on was the best thing he could do, for all of them, but it was much more easily said than done.

"I'm sorry, Severus, I don't want this bad blood between us anymore. I want to be friends again," the redhead gave a tentative smile, "can we try that? Being friends?"

The dark-haired wizard heaved a breath and stood from his seat at his potions station. He was incredibly early to the class and Hermione had not yet arrived. He wondered if this was intentional on Lily's part of if it was simply coincidental.

"Hermione tells me I should move on, that I will be happier should I forget the past and allow the future to be my focus." He cocked an eyebrow at the smaller witch as he spoke and Lily nodded, a bright smile on her beautiful face.

She was pretty, it was true, he didn't know how he'd ever thought she could outshine his Hermione, however.

"She's a smart witch, I think she has really been good for you, Sev." She placed a hand on his upper arm and he no longer felt the zing of energy, of tension he'd once felt when she touched him. He truly had moved on then? It was a freeing feeling, something that he hadn't anticipated.

"She has, we are quite in love I dare to say." He spoke quietly, Lily nodded and gave him another brilliant smile.

"Good, but our friendship Sev, is there any chance we can try again?" She tipped her head, red hair cascading across her shoulders. Severus glanced to the doorway to see Hermione standing just inside the room. She was leaning against the wall, a gentle, if a bit tense smile on her face. At his questioning gaze she nodded, he knew he wasn't imagining the little hint of sadness in her brilliant amber eyes, however.

"I think it would be acceptable to begin a tentative try at friendship. Now, we should be settling in for class, Slughorn will be here any moment no doubt." Lily nodded, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug that he hadn't anticipated, and he gave her back a gentle pat. "I am sorry, for everything that has come to pass between us, Lily."

"As am I, Severus, would you like to partner today? Hermione hasn't come yet?" She tipped her head at him and he nodded to the back of the room, Lily turned her head before flushing a soft shade of red. "Oh."

Hermione nodded at the other witch but maintained her distance, watching Severus, waiting to see what he would do. Knowing what they knew, that she was his soul-mate, that he was hers.

Severus felt his heart stutter in his chest, she would still stand back and let him have a chance with Lily once more, wouldn't she? His stomach flipped as he glanced between the witches, he could see it so clearly now, the light his Hermione shone upon entering the room.

Lily was pale in comparison, she was nothing when compared to the brilliant witch who had stolen him, heart and soul.

"I am afraid that Hermione and I have been working together quite amicably, perhaps we could gather as a group to study at some point?" He cocked an eyebrow at Lily who nodded before giving him another brilliant smile and turned to go to her usual table on the other side of the room.

Hermione approached him only after the other witch was gone, her fingers hooked together behind her back and her eyes hesitant on his face.

"Severus, if you want..." He cut her off with a gentle kiss, his lips brushing hers with delicate care.

"We'll speak after class, okay?" He took her hand in his and squeezed it softly before turning to their station just as Slughorn made his entrance and the class began.

SSHG

At lunch the pair sat together, close enough that Severus could hook his arm around Hermione's shoulders and pull her close to him. He was pleased to hold her in his arms, despite his distaste for such public displays. He could feel several sets of eyes on them, at least one pair belonging to the Gryffindor table, and as he looked up he realized that there were five at the Gryffindor table staring at them.

Each seemed to have their own reason, and a different expression on their face as he cradled his witch to his side. She ate slowly, glancing up at him on occasion and when he finally brought his eyes back down to her face she was watching him with a careful sort of guarded expression that made him feel incredibly lacking.

"Hermione, we need to speak on some things." She gave a downcast look, he could feel the turmoil, and resignation rolling off of her in waves and he cleared his throat. He never wanted to see such looks on her face where he was concerned, and he felt like the worst sort of boyfriend for making her feel such things.

She opened her mouth to speak and not wanting to hear what he could so clearly see written on her face he stopped her with a finger to her lips. Their seventh year would be ending soon and they would be moving on with their lives, moving on to bigger and better things. He had no illusions that he would go on without her, that she would ever not be a part of his life.

Now seemed as good a time as any.

"Hermione, love," he pulled the small box from his pocket, he'd sent for his Grandmum's engagement ring weeks before. It was time, he needed to do this now, to erase any and all doubt she might have in his loyalty, in his dedication to her. He would not be leaving her for Lily, he would not trade a real love for an infatuation, they had been through too much, come too far. "Hermione, it would please me endlessly for you to become my wife, you are everything to me." He opened the box to reveal the gleaming silver ring. A fair sized black pearl sat in its center and Severus knew there was a rune for protection carved into the underside, invisible to the naked eye. On either side of the pearl sat two delicate moonstones, glinting in the light and the ring emanated a magical aura.

Pureblood jewelry was always infused with the highest degrees of magic. The Prince line was old, and his Grandmum had always favored him, her only stipulation had been the requirement that he bring his future bride to meet with her.

His mother might never have inherited the Prince line, but someday Severus would be its head and it was incredibly important his chosen bride be accepted by the family.

"Oh great goddess Severus..." She trailed, her fingers covering her mouth, trembling as she stared down at the ring. "I hadn't expected- when she came to you I thought, oh sweet Merlin."

Severus couldn't help the smirk that pressed its way onto his face. "Do put me out of my misery, Hermione, I'm quite certain I will simply combust if you do not answer, and soon." Her eyes shot up to his and he could see the tears that gathered at their edges.

He frowned, gathering the witch into his arms and closing the ring in his large hand, hiding it away as he held her firmly in an embrace. "Hermione, love, it's okay, I haven't meant to upset you." He breathed into her ear as he held her and she shook her head. She was sobbing in earnest now and when she finally pulled away to look into his face she had the biggest smile he'd ever seen painted across her lips.

"Oh Severus, you haven't upset me, just surprised me is all!" She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his in a salty, tear streaked kiss. "Of course I want to be with you forever, of course I love you." She pulled away and pushed out her hand waiting for the ring, the ring he took delicately from the box and slipped onto her slender finger.

The ring glowed a soft white, wrapping magic around her wrist and arm that trailed straight up to her chest to wrap around her heart before resizing. The light faded, and she stared down at the delicate setting on her finger.

"I love you, my sweet witch. More than you will ever know." Severus pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she smiled, wrapping her arms around him once more for a tight embrace.

"I thought you would leave me..." She trailed as he stroked a hand down the back of her head, his fingertips tangling in her wild curls.

"I am never leaving you, Hermione, you are my witch, and I belong to you, heart and soul."


End file.
